Domino's Pizza is set for expansion and remodeling this year as the parent company looks to enhance the customer experience. For the Cable Beach location, AML Foods will double its size and create a "pizza theatre" feature, whereby customers can actually watch the cooks prepare their pie. The experience is part of a greater effort across the brand to polish stores and attract new clientele. Gavin Watchorn, the CEO of AML Foods, said that four of the 11 Domino Pizza locations in the capital will receive attention this year.
The Cable Beach store will receive the greatest capital injection of $350,000 and open its doors at the end of May. "We are focused on rebranding and re-imaging the stores," he told Guardian Business. "The stores are a little bit stale. We think it is the right time to do that." In essence, the BISX-listed firm will be "flipping the store around" so customers can peek inside the kitchen. Monitors mounted on the walls also allow you to track the pizza's progress. AML Foods has spent the last year or so opening several new supermarket locations in both Nassau and Grand Bahama.
This year, Watchorn said, is the time for consolidating the firm's assets. In fact, the BISX-listed company's major expansion project for 2013 has been put on hold. Watchorn said the first Carl's Jr franchise will be reevaluated on a quarter-by-quarter basis. AML Foods has observed that discretionary spending is down across the board. Bahamians appear more strained with the rising cost of living and high unemployment. "We just felt we needed to give the economy a little bit of time to strengthen and improve. We will revisit the prospect later this year. There are no guarantees. But unless there is a disaster, I don't see us not doing it."
The company insists that all of the planning and refinancing is in place for the new franchise. Back in January, AML foods came to an agreement with CKE Restaurants Inc. to construct the Carl's Jr franchise in Nassau. The long-term investment of AML Foods envisioned at the time was in the range of $4 million. In the end, between four and five restaurants have been considered for the capital.
Watchorn said the firm entered into an agreement with preference shareholders to restructure its preference share debt. The move was meant to free up capital for Carl's Jr, among other projects. The maturity date of the shares was extended from December 2015 to December 2022, with a reduced interest rate of eight percent to 7.25 percent. "It allows us to use operational cash flow for growth rather than debt repayment. We can grow our business," he said.
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