The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

AML Foods yesterday told Tribune Business that sales at its western New Providence Solomon’s Fresh Market store had dropped 15-20 per cent below their peak over the last six months, although this was less than the summer norm for businesses in that area.

And Gavin Watchorn, the BISX-listed food retail and franchise group’s chief executive, added that company-wide it was seeing a “consistent” increase in theft with items that are frequently stolen when the economy is bad.

Speaking to Tribune Business after AML Foods unveiled its results for the three months to end-July 2012, the second quarter in its financial year that closes January 2013, Mr Watchorn said the company had budgeted for a ‘seasonal’ decline in sales at its Old Fort Bay Town Centre store.

He added, though, that the first Solomon’s Fresh Market store had fared better than most western New Providence businesses, as sales/business levels in the area typically dropped off by 35-40 per cent during summer as expatriate residents left for cooler climates.

“We’ve had a slight lag over the summer months with Fresh Market out west,” Mr Watchorn told Tribune Business. “There’s a lot of winter residents that leave home. We expected it and budgeted for it.

“It dropped off 15-20 per cent. It’s really only in the last six weeks that it has dropped that much. Before that, it was slightly going down.

“But we knew it was going to happen. Businesses in the west told us they experience decreases of 35-40 per cent in the summer, and we had braced ourselves for a drop in peak sales of 30-35 per cent, but it only dropped 15 per cent.”

And, somewhat mitigating the sales decline is the development of a Bahamian consumer base at Solomon’s Fresh Market to go alongside its expatriate one.

“Initially, it was quite an expatriate driven customer base, but now it’s predominantly Bahamian consumers, and we’re pleased they’re adopting a healthy lifestyle,” Mr Watchorn said.

“We’re facilitating that. When the winter residents and the boaters come back in season, we’re confident we’ll do even greater sales next year, as we’ll have two distinct customer bases as opposed to one.”

As for Solomon’s Fresh Market’s current performance, Mr Watchorn told Tribune Business: “It’s pretty close to top line expectations. Bottom line is there or thereabouts.

“A new store may take a little bit of time, but we’ll have been open a year in November and the store will be profitable for its first 12 months.”

But on a gloomier group-wide note, Mr Watchorn told Tribune Business: “Stealing is on the rise.

“We’re seeing categories of items that when times are bad, stealing goes up. We’re seeing that pretty consistently with items that have high levels of stealing, such as clothing. We’re back focusing on security and tightening up on controls.”

Still, Mr Watchorn told Tribune Business that average spend per customer and customer volumes were up across the AML Foods group, whose existing brands include Solomon’s SuperCentre and Cost Right, plus the Domino’s Pizza franchise.

He said: “I don’t think we have the level of people shopping around for deals everywhere. I think we are doing a good job in satisfying the customer’s basket, and keeping in stock the inventory that they want.

“We’re confident that consumers see all our stores as value destinations for them, and as the economic challenges continues, people see our brands more and more as representing the value and quality of our business.”

Mr Watchorn added that AML Foods’ utility bills had risen by a smaller amount in the second quarter when compared to previous periods, a sign that the money invested in energy efficient equipment and lighting was “beginning to pay off”.