The owner of a longtime St. John car rental company lives in fear of St. Thomas.
"(That island) can easily crush St. John with a blink of an eye," Greg Edward told the St. John Source as he voiced complaints about what he sees as unfair business competition between St. John and St. Thomas.
It's all about the cars. Edward said St. John's car rental agencies have been limited to a total of 625 cars for almost 20 years. St. Thomas, on the other hand, can license 3,000. He told the newspaper as many as 700 of those STT cars come to St. John each week, driven for day trips or lengthier stays.
St. Thomas' skimming the car rental business hurts him two ways. People make reservations with him but then decide to rent on St. Thomas and, first, costing him the business and, second, leaving him with an un-rented car on his lot for the week. He has 15 vehicles in his fleet. Prices begin at $450/week.
Edward said he opened his Courtesy Car Rentals, almost 20 years ago. He left a job at Caneel Bay to go into business and refinanced his home to get the startup capital.