The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

AML Foods says its January sales numbers “are looking quite strong” after a Christmas season in which its top-line was up 7 per cent year-over-year.

Gavin Watchorn, the BISX-listed food retail and franchise group’s chief executive, told Tribune Business that its emphasis on ‘quality and value’ was “resonating” with Bahamian shoppers.

He added that the group’s financials were “living the message” from its promotional efforts, with sales growth being driven by “one of the hardest things to achieve as a retailer” - increased customer footfall in its stores.

“We had a pretty good Christmas,” Mr Watchorn told Tribune Business in a recent interview. “We look at Christmas sales for a three-week period, and we were up about 7 per cent in total for the three-week period.

“We were flat for the first two weeks, which we were pleased with, given what we heard from other retailers. And the last week was pretty strong.

“I think that given the economic conditions out there, any retailer who was slightly better than flat to anything positive [over Christmas] is probably happy.”

Mr Watchorn said AML Foods’ ‘three-week’ Christmas period consists of the week including December 25, plus the two weeks prior.

“The period between Christmas and New Year was a little softer compared to recent trends; I don’t want to say down,” he added.

The AML Foods chief executive said that was expected, due to the exceptionally strong ending to 2014 that was enjoyed by food retailers, as Bahamian stocked up to beat Value-Added Tax’s (VAT) introduction.

“January numbers are generally looking quite strong,” Mr Watchorn said, acknowledging that consumer spending was down the prior year due to the pre-VAT rush.

“We’re pleased with the sales performance. We’ve been working quite hard for it, and we believe it’s a validation of our strategy to provide shoppers with quality and value.

“Our customer count is reflective of the fact that’s resonating with them. Our sales and transaction counts are reflecting that. We’re living the message.”

Mr Watchorn said AML Foods’ sales growth had all come from increased customer traffic and footfall at its various Solomon’s and Cost Right formats, meaning that the rise is volume as opposed to margin-driven.

He added that the declines in average customer spend per transaction had “tapered off” since early 2015, and told Tribune Business: “Our growth in transaction count count is quite steady.

“That’s driving sales. Getting extra people into your store is one of the hardest things to do as a retailer. Any growth we’re getting is coming from transaction count.

“I think our business has shifted because we’ve been able to grow our business consistently over the last year or two. The seasonality in the grocery business is not quite what it was before,” Mr Watchorn said.

“It’s not that we don’t get peak weeks, but other weeks are stronger.”

Describing AML Foods’ performance as a collective management effort, Mr Watchorn added: “You have to be customer focused, and right now we’re going through the process of how do we improve that, whether it’s internal or external customers. How do we become as focused as we can on the customer.”