The Tribune

• Myers Group redeploys 53 of 60 impacted staff

• Only seven accept severance over shutdown

• Franchise ‘not sustainable’ as not profitable

By Fay Simmons

Tribune Business Reporter

jsimmons@tribunemedia.net

Almost 90 percent of impacted staff have retained jobs despite the loss-making Pizza Hut franchise’s decision to shut its three New Providence locations with effect from Sunday.

Linda Myers, president of Bahamas QSR Ltd, told Tribune Business that only seven of the 60 affected employees have opted to accept voluntary severance packages as a result of the closure. The remaining 53 will be redeployed to other fast-food restaurant brands operated by the ultimate Bahamian parent, the Myers Group.

She explained that the shutdown resulted from consistent losses that are thought to have occurred over a five to six-year period. “We weren’t making any profits; it just was not a sustainable business for us,” Ms Myers said.

The now-former Pizza Hut employees will be redeployed to the Myers Group’s other franchise brands, including Dunkin Donuts, Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) and Burger King. The group also operates Quizno’s and Anthony’s Bar & Grill.

The Pizza Hut franchise, in a statement on its Facebook page, said: “We’ve made the difficult business decision to cease operations of our three Pizza Hut Nassau restaurants, as of January 14, 2024. We will miss serving you and the community. Thank you for your years of patronage....

“It is with heavy hearts that we inform you that all Pizza Hut locations are permanently closed.” The three outlets that have now shut are based on Carmichael Road, Prince Charles Drive and at Saunders Beach.

The Myers Group has, by closing Pizza Hut, consolidated its brand portfolio to focus on the more profitable brands. Pizza Hut was in an intensely competitive segment of the fast-food market, going head-to-head with Domino’s (AML Foods); Marco’s (Aetos Holdings, the Wendy’s and Popeye’s Chicken franchise holder); and Little Caesar’s

Howard Thompson, the Government’s director of labour, said Pizza Hut and Myers Group executives had initially explored terminating more staff but ultimately settled on redeploying most of those impacted. He added that the company had been communicating with himself and Pia Glover-Rolle, minister of labour, about the planned closure since early December.

Pizza Hut and its parent first told the Department of Labour that they may have to terminate more than 20 employees before settling on transferring the majority of staff to other restaurant brands at equal or greater salaries.

“In December they would have given us notice of the possibility of restructuring Pizza Hut employees, but new information has come to us now that they’ve found a way to redeploy those staff to some of their other brand restaurants and seven of them have taken the redundancy package. So, I’m relieved to hear that,” Mr Thompson said.

He added that the staff were part of the company’s restructuring efforts from inception, which resulted in a smooth transition to other restaurants within the group. “The minister of labour and I were made to understand that the decision to close the Pizza Hut locations was due principally to continuous business losses incurred over the past five to six years,” Mr Thompson said.

Last month, the Myers Group revealed that it aims to create 25 jobs through constructing a new Dunkin Donuts restaurant location on West Bay Street at the eastern end of Saunders Beach. The combined walk-in/drive through restaurant will cost about $1.5m to construct and is currently awaiting approvals from the Department of Physical Planning.

Social media was ripe with speculation about Pizza Hut’s closure, with some customers voicing their disapproval with the sudden announcement. One user speculated that the franchise encountered financial difficulties due to the high costs associated with doing business in the Bahamas.

“Probably the ease of doing business here had something to do with it”, they said. Another suggested that the number of pizza restaurants in the market had created an over-saturation. They said: “Was bound to happen at some point with the over saturation of the same product. The only way to survive was to continually lower prices, which was already at it’s max or cannibalise.

“Bahamians are not traditionally pizza people, so with the number of different franchises it was only a matter of time. We’ve seen Swanks and Papa John’s come and go twice.”

Some questioned why the franchise did not give advance notice to loyal consumers that would have flocked to get one last slice of their favourite treat. They said: “With no notice. Wow. Had the public knew I’m sure y’all would have had a big uptick in sales. Folks would have loved a chance to get a meal before you closed permanently.”

Pizza Hut’s immediate parent, Swanks Pizza Restaurants, said in a statement that it had “made the difficult business decision to cease operations of its three restaurants as of January 14, 2024. This decision comes after careful consideration of various factors.

“As part of the closure process, Pizza Hut Nassau has been working closely with both the Ministry of Labour and Pizza Hut employees to provide the best support during this transition. Efforts have been made to minimise the impact on the workforce, including providing resources for job placement assistance, severance packages and other support services.

“We are happy that the majority of our employees have decided to stay within the Myers Group of Companies.” The statement said Freeport’s Pizza Hut restaurant remains open.