The Tribune

By Neil Hartnell

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

Super Value is targeting a 5-10 percent year-over-year increase in Christmas and holiday season sales, its president has disclosed, following a similar Thanksgiving jump that saw it beat 2024 comparatives.

Debra Symonette told Tribune Business that the 13-store supermarket chain expects Thanksgiving trends to hold for the upcoming festive period after the US holiday - which traditionally marks the start of the winter tourism season - generated an 8-10 percent sales increase.

Anticipating that consumers will continue to shop despite ongoing world economic uncertainties, she reassured that Bahamians “don’t need to fret” over the possibility of significant food price increases with costs for most items now “holding pretty steady”.

Ms Symonette also told this newspaper that Super Value is likely to keep all stores open, albeit with reduced hours, on days such as Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day following customer “push back” over its decision to shut the East Street, Wulff Road, Seagrapes Shopping Centre and Robinson Road outlets on Emancipation Day in a bid to cut staff and other expenses.

Explaining that a final decision on possible store closures will be taken nearer the time, she added that Christmas may also influence Bahamian shoppers to ignore the higher 10 percent VAT on some goods - reversing the trend that saw many concentrate on the uncooked foods that enjoy a lower 5 percent rate following the Government cuts implemented earlier this year.

“I think it’s fair to say we were up 8-10 percent for Thanksgiving sales,” Ms Symonette said. “I would say it’s pretty much what we expected. I wouldn’t say it exceeded expectations, but it was pretty much what we expected. The ham and turkey sales are going well enough, moving as quickly as we expected them to.

“I hope we have enough. We have done our best to bring in and order an ample supply as a lot of sales are for Christmas as well. I think we have enough. We usually judge orders by previous years.”

Optimistic that Thanksgiving sales trends will extend through the Christmas and New Year festive seasons, the Super Value chief said: “We actually did better this year [for Thanksgiving]. We feel confident that the same trends are going to follow for Christmas despite what’s happening in the world with the economy. People still tend to shop at Christmas time, and that’s what we expect.

“We don’t expect to see a decrease [in sales] or anything. I don’t think it will be flat. We’ll probably see at least a 5-10 percent increase. People still seem to be shopping and getting what they need. People always have to eat, so they’re going to find a way to get the food they want.”

Reassuring Bahamians that there are unlikely to be any sudden price or cost shocks in the Christmas run-up, Ms Symonette added: “We’re doing our best to supply what they want and at the best possible prices. I wouldn’t say that we’ve seen that much of a change in the prices. We’re holding pretty steady.

“You always have changes here and there depending on circumstances because all sorts of factor go into prices. Customers don’t need to fret about prices changing drastically… It’s looking pretty good. I think everybody is going to get what they want, and we will provide some good prices for them so that, hopefully, they will be satisfied.”

The Super Value president said Christmas and the New Year may also motivate consumers to acquire higher-priced goods that still attract the higher 10 percent VAT rate. “What we saw at the beginning, and I guess the trend is continuing, is that consumers were buying more of the 5 percent stuff,” she explained.

“Now it’s Christmas, they may not pay so much attention to what’s 5 percent and 10 percent because they will want to prepare big family meals. I want to say everything is flowing pretty smoothly. We don’t expect there to be any disruption. We’ll have everything we need in time to meet the demand.”

Ms Symonette told Tribune Business that, while no final decision has been taken, Super Value expects to keep all 13 stores open on Christmas holiday dates. “I would say that, for Christmas, we’re going to keep all of them open,” she said. “That’s our thinking so far.

“As we get closer, we’ll make a decision. We’ll try to keep them all open for the convenience of our customers. The days leading up to Christmas are always busier, Christmas and Boxing Day are usually quieter. The hours will be different but we’ll definitely be open. We will close a bit earlier and will announce the hours closer to the time.

When asked why Super Value is not continuing with its Emancipation Day closures, Ms Symonette replied: “We did that, and we had some push back from some of the customers saying they couldn’t get to the other stores to make their purchases. We thought they had time to go to the closest branch that was open.

“We did have some complaints that they couldn’t go to those other places. We’ll try our best to accommodate everyone and see how it works out. The decision will be made based on customer feedback as well as the figures, the sales figures. We’ll have to see if it’s warranted to keep them open.”