The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

Super Value’s principal yesterday urged Bahamians to “pull out all the stops” to help re-open the economy and become COVID-19 vaccinated with the supermarket chain’s sales “in freefall”.

Rupert Roberts told Tribune Business that the supermarket chain’s top-line is “falling every week” as prolonged unemployment and/or reduced incomes continue to inflict an ever-deeper toll on consumer spending.

Asserting that vaccination is “100 percent key” to beating the pandemic and restoring the economy to some semblance of normality, he added that Super Value and its Quality Supermarkets affiliate were booking appointments for all staff aged 65 and over to become inoculated against COVID-19.

Mr Roberts, confirming that all 1,100 staff are being urged to take the vaccine when their turn comes “to get us out of this”, said the sales decline was no surprise and had been forecast as persons moved away from the stocking up and hoarding that occurred during the pandemic’s earlier months.

“Sales are falling every week as expected,” he told this newspaper. “I text the minister of tourism [Dionisio D’Aguilar] like everyone else, urging him to pull out all the stops to re-open the economy because sales are in freefall.

“The whole economy is in freefall and we have to get back to some sort of normality, get tourism back, business back and the country re-opened again. That depends on our vaccinations and vaccinations in major visitor source markets. Hopefully if we can get the vaccines out, the pandemic will go away and we can start to build back to normal

“Once the pandemic stops, the economy can come back. I think it will go back to normal fairly quickly.” Mr Roberts declined to give figures or percentages for the sales decline, other than to say: “I’ll just use the word ‘terrible’. I don’t want to put any numbers to it. I hardly want to say anything that will frighten the government or frighten consumers.” 

The Super Value chief attributed this year’s sales fall-off to the devastation inflicted upon jobs and household incomes by the COVID-19 pandemic, while adding that food stores had also benefited last year from the closure of restaurants and hotels amid the lockdowns and other restrictive measures.

“We knew when we started comparing with last year there’d be no comparison. We knew sales would be in freefall,” Mr Roberts added. “That means in two years we’ve had zero growth. There hasn’t been zero growth in expenses, so that has been a hardship - expenses have increased, and sales have not.”

Super Value is not the only supermarket chain eyeing a sales decline. BISX-listed AML Foods, the Solomon’s and Cost Right owner, in unveiling the results for its third quarter to end-January 2021 predicted a top-line decrease for the fourth quarter of its financial year as shopping patterns returned to normal following the pandemic.

Despite this, the group’s sales closed the third quarter at $44.7m compared to the prior year’s $43m. Franklyn Butler, AML Foods’ chairman, wrote: “Overall, sales for the quarter were up 4 percent compared to the prior year. The company is beginning to see signs of sales softening in line with expectations following double digit increases in the first quarter and second quarter.

“Customers’ shopping habits are returning to pre-pandemic patterns with more frequent visits per week and lower average spend. Given the delay in the opening of the domestic economy and high unemployment levels, the projection is that sales will continue to decline in the fourth quarter and through the end of the current financial year.”

Mr Roberts, meanwhile, argued that vaccination was the only path to rescuing the economy from COVID-19’s grasp. “I’m hearing there’s some resistance to the vaccine, but that’s the only thing that will get us out of this. It’s 100 percent the key. 

“We’re urging all our 65 and over staff to take it, and are scheduling appointments for them. We’re urging our 1,100 staff to take it to get us out of this. If everybody took it by tomorrow I think it would be over by tomorrow. That’s the key; getting everybody vaccinated. I cannot understand anybody hesitating to take it. I don’t know why they’re hesitating.”

Mr Roberts also asserted that Super Value’s selling “zero alcohol” Heineken does not represent “a stepping stone” to the supermarket chain offering a full range of alcoholic products similar to industry counterparts in developed countries such as the US and UK.

“Personally I would never sell alcohol,” he responded. “If they offered me a liquor licence I would not sell alcohol because it is misused. Those non-alcoholic beverages have been out a long time. I look at it as like supplying the cider we sell a lot at Easter. 

“From our point of view it’s not a stepping stone to get alcohol into the stores. I don’t want it in the stores. Too many people misuse it. A lot of people use it and enjoy it, but when they misuse it, it causes social and family problems.”

As for the “zero alcohol” Heineken, which multiple other food stores are also selling, Mr Roberts added: “If the public accept it, it will become another drink. I think enough of it will be sold to continue to carry it. I would imagine all the grocery stores on the island are carrying it.”

Super Value has also extended its opening times by an hour to 8pm with the switch to daylight saving time. Mr Roberts said this is still an hour less than pre-COVID because the chain has found few consumers wish to shop after dark.

He also revealed that shipping issues were impacting the supply chain, having recently encountered difficulties in securing rice shipments from New Orleans, with orders that previously took two months to fulfill now taking four.