The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

ROBIN Hood's landlord yesterday told Tribune Business he is extremely confident about finding a replacement tenant for the closing retailer, describing the Summerwinds Plaza location as "second to none" and "the best in New Providence".

Suggesting that it would not be long before he found a new tenant, Leslie Miller, the former trade and industry minister in the 2002-2007 Christie-led PLP administration, said he was more concerned for the 65 employees that Robin Hood would be making redundant with its closure/liquidation.

Mr Miller, who is also the PLP's Tall Pines candidate in the upcoming general election, added that the closure of Robin Hood's Tonique Williams-Darling Highway store would not impact his adjacent Mario's Bowling and Entertainment Centre, as the two did not share similar customer bases.

"I can only wait and see what happens, and as to what Robin Hood does. I'm just trying to get on top of the situation," Mr Miller said, telling Tribune Business he had been off-island when the retailer's president, Sandy Schaefer, announced his decision to close down.

"We'll just have to sit with him. I'll talk to Sandy this week. The space can always be rented to others who want to take it over. My concern would be for the 60-plus employees."

Asked whether the loss of Robin Hood's consumer traffic would impact Mario's business volumes, Mr Miller estimated that just "2 per cent of our customer base" came persons who shopped there before coming to the entertainment destination.

"Our customer base wasn't really built around Robin Hood," the former Cabinet minister added. "What we offer is an entertainment destination that Bahamians from all walks of life are comfortable in visiting."

Declining to discuss what he and his family would lose in monthly rental income should Robin Hood close, Mr Miller expressed confidence that he could secure a replacement tenant quickly.

"The spot is as good as any," he added. "The location is second to none. It's a new location and we'll just move on."

Robin Hood's closure represents a blow for Mr Miller nonetheless, at least in the short-term, given the loss of rental income and a key 'anchor tenant' at the Summerwinds Plaza. The impact will likely be felt by all his other tenants, and he will have to hope Mario's continues bringing in the customers.

Another business set to be impacted by Robin Hood's closure is the Fidelity Bank (Bahamas) branch located within the retail store. Customer traffic visiting the branch is likely to be sharply reduced, even though the bank has 'right-of-way' access that will ensure people can still visit it even if the store is closed.

Mr Schaefer told Tribune Business on Friday last that some 65 jobs would be lost with Robin Hood's closure, saying he had little choice but to liquidate the company after it suffered a $3.6 million net loss in the past year.

Schaefer said the closure of the retailer's second store on Prince Charles Drive, a victim of a delayed opening and the ongoing roadworks, had prevented the company from generating a return on its investment in the property - and resulted in it losing more in the past 12 months than it had collectively earned in the previous four-five years.

Upset at the demise of a business he had built up over a 13-year period, having arrived in the Bahamas in 1999, Mr Schaefer said the possibility remained that he might "re-organise, re-group and re-open" Robin Hood's Prince Charles Drive store under another business name after closing down Tonique Williams-Darling Highway site, adding: "I haven't gone quietly into the night."

He also told Tribune Business: "We're going to walk out of here with very little of anything, and that is particularly difficult for all my family. But we fought the good fight.

"I haven't decided to whether to stay or go. We're dealing with this now. It's torture, and difficult for us all. But we did a lot of good things. We will hold our heads high, regardless of how many people try to demean us or put us down.

"It's a very emotional time for us. When you birth a company, watch it live for 13 years, and then it has to end for reasons beyond the economics of the situation, for reasons beyond our control....When in business, it's a gamble. When that invisible hand takes control, that's just wrong."