The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

A major Bahamian retailer has hailed the government's decision to modify its "locked down" businesses list as "a huge help" both to its sector and the wider economy.

Brent Burrows, vice-president of CBS Bahamas (Commonwealth Building Supplies), told Tribune Business that it would have been "really detrimental" to the home and hardware improvements retail sector had it remained on total coronavirus lockdown for the 11-day period until month's end.

He spoke after the government modified its list of "exempted businesses", under the Emergency Powers (COVID-19) Order No.1, to enable hardware stores such as CBS Bahamas to open between 9am and 5pm for the purposes of taking purchase orders from licensed contractors only.

Other sectors also added to the "exempt list", which stipulates that they must only have "essential workers" on-site and maintain "social distancing" protocols, included Arawak Port Development Company (APD), the Nassau Container Port operator. Its role is critical to the flow of imported cargo, especially food and medicine, amid the global pandemic.

Credit unions were also permitted to open from 9am to 5pm, bringing them into line with banks, along with wholesale bakeries such as Purity Bakery and life and health insurance brokers. The latter action will have been to facilitate policy renewals, while companies licensed to provide security services have also been exempted.

In the case of hardware and home improvements retailers, the sector united to push the government to declare it an "essential" sector that should remain at least partially open. A letter sent to the prime minister and three of his Cabinet ministers, which has been seen by Tribune Business, said they played a vital role in enabling contractors "to keep homes and communities safe, secure and functioning".

The letter was signed by Mr Burrows at CBS Bahamas, as well as Jason Watson, AID's president; Christopher Lleida, Premier Importers chief executive; Mark Roberts, manager at FYP and Tile King; and Mark Fox, managing partner at Western Hardware & Lumber Company. This newspaper understands that City Lumberyard, the Hardware Centre and Cartwright Building Supply also supported its content.

Backing the government's rationale for closing "non-essential" retail stores, and enforcing strict health-related measures to combat COVID-19, the retailers wrote: "We also urge public health officials to consider home improvement and hardware stores among those retail operations determined to be 'essential' and allow these business owners the option to stay open as a public service.

"With dozens of home improvement retailers serving communities across our archipelago, these stores provide much-needed services to individuals and contractors, providing them with the products and support required to keep their homes and communities safe, secure and functioning."

The retailers said these products include cleaning supplies, tool and batteries, and locks and security products. They added that all "can be essential to maintaining a safe and secure living environment".

Mr Burrows, praising the government for listening to their calls, said of the outcome: "It's better than it would have been otherwise. Honestly, I would say it's extremely important. It's going to be a huge help for us. To close the doors for 11 days and have no customers coming in would be really detrimental to the business.

"It's not like we will be at a full complement, but being able to serve the contractors keeps the cash flowing and ensures we don't have to lay our people off. It keeps the business functioning. A lot of people have the mindset that businesses, big and small, can close for a couple of weeks and they will be fine. Closing for a couple of days is a big deal."

Mr Burrows added that CBS Bahamas had no plans to lay-off any of its near-80 staff amid the tourism industry shutdown, and mass temporary unemployment, that has resulted from the COVID-19 pandemic.

"We're keeping all the staff on," he said. "The goal is to make it through this together keeping everybody on and everybody paid. Hopefully this [lockdown] will not drag on too much longer than 11 days. Looking at 11 days our plan was to keep everybody and not lay anybody off."

The CBS Bahamas chief said being added to the government's list of businesses exempted from the total shutdown had further boosted the company's confidence in its strategy, which has also involved office and administrative staff working remotely from home.

He explained that the store would likely operate with just five to six persons, split between floor staff, cashiers and warehouse workers, to serve contractors so that CBS Bahamas continues to comply with the coronavirus health protocols.

"We're keeping everybody on the payroll but at home," Mr Burrows told Tribune Business. "We don't have to bring everybody back and have 25-30 people in the store. That kind of defeats the purpose of keeping your distance.

"We feel there's a balance to be struck between keeping safe and being able to operate. We actually got a lot of positive feedback from contractors saying it's good news you will be able to help us. It was more than I expected. I was worried how many guys were on job sites, but there's quite a few.

"We do a bit of installation and services work, and it doesn't seem like there's any slowdown there. It's good for the country and it could be one of the things to help us to pull through this slowdown; the amount of construction projects going on."