The Tribune

• Galleria, Skate City await re-open go-ahead

• As Mario’s prepares to restart business today

• Operators warn of ‘long road back’ from COVID

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

Entertainment businesses yesterday voiced relief they can finally begin “the long road” to rebounding from COVID-19’s multi-million dollar losses even though several have yet to reach the starting line.

While Leslie Miller said his family’s Mario’s Bowling and Family Entertainment Palace will re-open as early as today, following Fusion Superplex’s confirmation it received the go-ahead to restart its cinema business, both Galleria Cinemas and Skate City yesterday told Tribune Business they have yet to receive similar permission from the Prime Minister’s Office.

Chris Mortimer, Galleria Cinemas’ principal, said he believed approval for his company’s re-opening was “imminent” while expressing mild surprise that Dr Hubert Minnis had not made “a general announcement” covering all entertainment-related businesses as opposed to granting permissions to individual companies.

The impression of a patchwork approach that lacked uniformity was further reinforced by Ivan Francis, owner/operator of Skate City 242, who told Tribune Business he has yet to receive any official go-ahead from the government to re-open his venue to customers.

“The government has not given me the official green light to open, at least not officially,” he said. “But I do understand that they did a few of the other entertainment venues, like Mario’s Bowling and the Fusion Superplex.”

“I don’t know when I will get my letter, but I will check back with them maybe this afternoon or first thing in the morning. I’m to the limit now, but there is nothing I could do. I just need the letter, because I’m to the limit now. It’s been an entire year now” since the company, located at the former Bacardi plant off Carmichael Road, was open.

Mr Mortimer, voicing optimism that Galleria will receive its own sign-off within the next 48 hours, said he was also seeking clarification from the Government’s Competent Authority as to whether the Mall at Marathon-based complex can open its food concession or whether this is classified as “indoor dining” and therefore prohibited.

Revealing that the company was still determining how many of its 40-50 staff will be recalled when Galleria opens following an 11-month COVID-19 enforced closure, he added that post-pandemic recovery is “not going to be as short as people hope” given the depth of the economic devastation it has inflicted.

Mr Mortimer, warning that all Bahamians and businesses face “a long road” back, said Galleria planned to seize the rebuilding opportunity that will likely soon be handed to it by the Government while revealing that the company could have held on for “another three-four months” while remaining closed.

Anticipating that Galleria will face the same 33 percent limit on cinema seating capacity as the Fusion Superplex, Mr Mortimer said of its return: “It’s imminent. We’re in the process of obtaining that [permission] now. I suspect it should be in hand fairly shortly. I think it’s just a matter of time, a day or two. A few more ‘t’s’ to cross and ‘i’s’ to dot.

“I think the COVID-19 mitigating effects have come to a point where we can, with proper protocols, re-open safely albeit at reduced levels. It’s a good thing for the economy and, at the same time, for our staff to be paid and come back to work. It’s a thing on the long road back from where we’ve been.

“We’re waiting for confirmation as to what the definition of indoor dining means in the theatrical sense. We’re seeking that confirmation from the Government. We’re waiting to get some sort of idea on what they actually meant by that.”

Food and drink concessions are typically a higher-margin area for cinema businesses than the movie tickets themselves. Confirmation on whether this area of Galleria’s business can re-open, and the “level of films available” to it, will weigh heavily in determining how many staff are brought back initially.

Mr Mortimer said “a lot of product has already moved to the fall” in terms of new movie releases from the Hollywood studios, which will likely require Galleria to show “a mix of product” - including old and new films - until then. He indicated movie ticket prices may drop from $10 to $7 as an incentive to customers during that time.

“It’s just finalising the balance of the product and what the re-opening date is going to be,” he added, given that there had been “short notice” of the entertainment industry’s re-opening. “I think the Government is going to keep capacity consistent throughout the industry, so it’s going to be 33 percent.”

This will limit a normal 300 seat theatre to around 100 customers upon Galleria’s post-COVID-19 return, with Mr Mortimer pointing out that the 10pm curfew will restrict late showings and force schedule changes, with the evening’s final moves having to start at around 7pm-7.30pm to enable staff to clean the theatres and get home.

While acknowledging that the COVID-19 restrictions and health protocols are “not ideal” for Galleria’s operations and financial performance, he told Tribune Business: “It’s better than what it was before. We’ll work with our partners to keep the break even as low as possible while we slowly emerge from this whole COVID-19 pandemic environment.

“It’s still a positive step on the long road back to recovery, which is going to be a while. It’s not going to be as short as people hope. The tourism sector will still be impacted for a while more to come, and if you accept what the Central Bank governor indicated that it will be 2023 and 2024 before we get back to pre-COVID levels, it’s going to be a long road back for every business and every Bahamian.

“Ultimately, as the economy improves our business will improve. The old adage of ‘a rising tide lifts all boats’ is true. We could have gone as long as the Government wanted to keep us closed, but we didn’t want to do that as it has been a very long time,” Mr Mortimer added.

“If something had happened, and the Government needed another month, two months, three months, I think we should have been OK for another three to four months. We’ll move forward from this point.”

Leslie Miller, meanwhile, told Tribune Business that Mario’s Bowling and Family Entertainment Palace would not have lasted “another day” of being closed while confirming that the letter authorising it to re-open was sent on Friday, February 12, which was the same day confirmation was sent to the Fusion Superplex.

“We’ve got the green light and we’re open tomorrow (today). We’re just waiting for the food to come in from Bahamas Food Services and we’re open for business,” Mr Miller disclosed. “We’re going to recall 58 staff for right now. We used to be up to 120 but that’s a while ago. Because of the economy tanking we had to let some go and release them.”

While Mario’s will have just under 50 percent of its pre-pandemic staff, and be restricted to 60 percent bowling capacity with 30 of 50 lanes in use, Mr Miller said the venue’s 67,000 square foot capacity and 24-foot high ceilings were ideal for social distancing and minimising COVID-19 risks.

The ex-Cabinet minister and Tall Pines MP, arguing that “nobody can live on $100 per week” from the Government-funded unemployment benefit, added: “We’ve been in this cocoon for so long our main concern is that staff members are able to earn a regular pay cheque, so that they can go into the grocery store, catch up in rent, make a car payment and get their lives back to normalcy as a human being instead of being tied down for 11 months.

“I believe that, under the circumstances, if the two doctors, Dr Mitchell and Dr Rolle, had taken a look at our facility earlier we could have been open a couple of months earlier. It’s a pity they did not come and take a look at us before because they were surprised at the amount of space we had.” The two doctors are advisers to the Government on whether firms are complying with COVID-19 protocols.

Mr Miller, though, said he did not expect 2021 to be “much better than last year” due to the number of Bahamians out of work or with reduced incomes as persons wait for both the national and world economy to recover.