The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

Superwash is set to invest $2 million in constructing a new laundromat and shopping complex at the former Pricebusters warehouse on Soldier Road, its president yesterday saying work would start in the “next couple of months” to ensure it caught the anticipated economic upturn.

Dionisio D’Aguilar told Tribune Business that construction of the proposed 5,000-6,000 square foot laundromat, together with an 8,000-10,000 square foot shopping complex, was set to take 12-18 months.

This, he explained, would take Superwash to 10 Nassau locations and ensure the laundromat chain was 
“primed for that upswing” anticipated in late 2014/early 2015 when the $2.6 billion Baha Mar project became fully operational.

Given that Baha Mar was set to create 5,000-6,000 full-time jobs, Mr D’Aguilar said that based on an estimated annual average salary of $25,000, this meant between $125 million to $150 million would be injected into the economy annually and “create some business”.

Disclosing that Superwash’s plans for the former Pricebusters site were to “start redeveloping it in the next couple of months”, Mr D’Aguilar said the project was set to create four-five retail units around the laundromat.

“We usually do that when we build. That’s how we do laundromats - we put there-four stores in to create some buzz at the location. We will put in a shopping centre, retail, around it,” he added.

“We’re in the design stage right now, finalising that design for a brand new large laundromat down there within the next 12-18 months.”

Mr D’Aguilar estimated that the venture would create 10-15 new jobs in total, with the likes of equipment purchases and installation creating numerous one-off spin-offs for suppliers.

Indicating that location had influenced Superwash’s decision to acquire the site, Mr D’Aguilar told Tribune Business that the Soldier Road area - particularly nearby neighbourhoods such as Nassau Village - was “a fairly underserved market”.

He said: “Soldier Road is a highly trafficked road, with great visibility and a big site to go after. It had an existing business on it, Pricebusters, which was a distressed company, so we got it at a good price.

“We had to wait for the recession, but the timing was right, and the economy is expected to kick in in late 2014, early 2015, so we want to be primed for that upswing.”

Looking ahead to 2013, Mr D’Aguilar said achieving “a couple of digit growth” to Superwash’s top-line would be a good outcome.

He added, though, that several of the chain’s locations previously “hammered” by works associated with the New Providence Road Improvement Project were making a comeback, particularly his Prince Charles store.

“That was always our flagship store, but they’ve done an incredible job on that road; it’s very efficient to go up and down it,” Mr D’Aguilar told Tribune Business.

“We’ve had a significant improvement in revenue for January from that location, 25 per cent. It had gone down significantly, and is now starting to come back up. The rest of the stores are flat, but that one’s gone back up.”

Superwash, he added, had seen improving year-over-year sales and revenues since the “low point” of 2010, although this had been confined to single digit growth of 3-4 per cent, and 5-6 per cent.

As for Superwash’s new $1 million Gibbs Corner location, Mr D’Aguilar said it was on schedule and on budget, with a May opening targeted.

He added that the existing outlet would have to close “a month or two in advance” to allow work on the new building to finish.

“The existing site has been around since 1969, so it’s 44 years-old, very old, tired and needs to be replaced,” Mr D’Aguilar added.

Proving, he said, that Superwash was the “quintessential” Bahamian company, Mr D’Aguilar said it was using an all-Bahamian construction team.

The contractor was Danny Ferguson; Jackson Burnside is the architect; Michael Diggiss the project manager; Quantum is providing the steel; Atlantic Roofing the metal; Nassau Tile is supplying the tile; and Premier Importers is providing the windows and doors.