The Tribune

AN Atlantis executive said the resort does not believe a Wendy’s store on Paradise Island would be stiff competition for its restaurants, insisting Atlantis merely believes the franchise doesn’t fit the ethos and aesthetics of Paradise Island.

Tribune Business revealed this week that Atlantis has teamed up with other Paradise Island hotels and developers to thwart Aetos Holdings’ plans to convert a site into a fast food restoration destination for its Wendy’s and Marco’s Pizza brands.

Vaughn Roberts, senior vice president for Atlantis, told reporters yesterday: “The old Scotiabank building was for sale. A local Bahamian family bought it with the intention of converting its use to fast food operations. We got word of it through the Department of Physical Planning and we participated in what seemed like a private discussion on it.”

“When you go back to the modern Paradise Island as we know it, it really is the vision of Sol Kerzner. It was really designed with the intent of being this idyllic environment. Paradise Island itself denotes what you should expect when you see here.

“So we oppose it on the basis of the potential traffic and congestion. We don’t think it fits in with the ethos, the aesthetics of what we aspire for Paradise Island. We don’t really see it as competition. Our food and beverage business is about $200m a year so a single fast-food vendor is not really a threat to us.

Mr Roberts noted that other luxury developments are slated for Paradise Island.

“Collectively, we just feel like whether it’s today or whether it’s our aspiration for Paradise Island, we really don’t see how a Wendy’s or Marco’s Pizza fits at that location on PI.”