AML gears up for new Solomon's Fresh Market

Ten months ago, AML Foods Limited introduced Bahamians and the residents of western New Providence to a one of a kind, world class grocery store, Solomon's Fresh Market. Now the company is gearing up to open another location in the Harbour Bay Shopping Plaza, in December of this year.
"Our customers have embraced the Solomon's Fresh Market concept", said Gavin Watchorn, president and CEO of AML Foods Limited. "From the moment that we opened our doors we received numerous requests from residents in the east to open a store closer to home. Bahamians in general are adopting a healthier lifestyle and the 'Fresh Market' brand supports this."
Renea Knowles, AML Foods' vice-president of marketing and communications, adds, "The current tenants are also very excited about the arrival of the new store, and the opportunities that it will bring to the Harbour Bay Shopping Plaza. Our new grocery store complements the existing businesses and is expected to attract customers from both the Bahamian and tourist markets."
"Ninety new jobs will eventually be created when the store opens", said Watchorn. "We have hired the managerial team and we are currently in the process of filling the remaining positions. We expect to have our full team in place by mid-October."
Dedicated to positively impacting the community, Solomon's Fresh Market will participate in the Hands for Hunger Paradise Plates event at the Atlantis resort on Saturday. "We care about our environment and community", said Knowles. "We will continue to support organizations like Hands for Hunger with similar pledges. Hands for Hunger is focused on eliminating unnecessary hunger and significantly reducing food waste, and we applaud and support them in their efforts."

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Accountants Weigh in on Work Permits

Major accounting firms are weighing in on the work permit debate, arguing that the sector requires foreign integration to be successful. Gowon Bowe, a partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), said The Bahamas has never truly implemented a strategic plan when it comes to work permits.

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Alicart 'open to more concepts' at Atlantis

With millions in investment and hundreds of employees, the rela- tionship between Atlantis and The Alicart Restaurant Group now represents an integral driver in the New Providence economy and there is reason to believe it could get even bigger.
Virgil's, the $10 million restaurant, held its grand opening this week amid great hopes and expec- tations. Boasting around 470 seats, it joins Carmines as another large- scale eatery on the resort.
Combined, that means there are more than 1,000 seats flying under the Alicart and Atlantis banner, creating jobs for nearly 400 Bahamians.
"In high season, we can probably push the number of seats at Virgil's to 650," said Jeffrey Bank, the CEO of Alicart.
"Carmines has around 350 or so. What we have done is fulfill a need brought on by a tremendous volume of guests. Our partnership with Kerzner International is great and we're open to more concepts. They get us and we get them. We'll stumble into the next project with them."
The grand opening of Virgil's at Atlantis is just the latest develop- ment in a company under rapid expansion.
Bank told Guardian Business that Alicart generally tries to open an new restaurant "at least once a year".  Prior to the $10 million Virgil's, Alicart launched a Carmines in Washington D.C., and the company is currently in advanced talks to bring the fran- chise to Las Vegas.
In total, Alicart owns and operates seven restaurants, employs more than 1,000 people and owns the rights to 29 different restaurant concepts.
The other Virgil's, located in New York City's Times Square, is "one of the busiest restaurants in the country", according to Bank.
It's a hefty resume that has fit in well with the Atlantis business model.
And while there is room for further projects down the line, Bank said Alicart is still grappling with the giant that is Virgil's. 

"For right now, this is obviously a big project," he explained.  "This has got to be the biggest barbecue restaurant in the Caribbean, if not North America. We need to ease into things gradually."
Virgil's is in the midst of a "soft launch", whereby it's taking on limited capacity as it kicks the tires and trains its staff. The restaurant served around 500 guests on its opening day on Tuesday, Bank
said, and employees were forced to turn some guests away.
"We are big believers in the soft opening," he added.
"Every day is a judgement in terms of ramping things up. We want things to go well and it's no fair for someone who is on a vaca- tion to not get excellent service."
A huge part of that process, Bank felt, is training.
There are currently five Alicart employees on hand at Virgil's showing the nearly 200 Bahamian employees the ropes.
The company's presence will be lessened over time, followed by monthly visits from senior execu- tives. Meanwhile, Alicart is engaged in a training program with Bahamians that will see a handful fly to New York City in January to gain further expertise.
"We are always looking for peo- ple to move up," Bank said.
"Now that we have opened, we'll be identifying people to bring back to New York."
Perhaps one of the more specialized positions at Virgil's is the role of "Pit Master".
Bank told Guardian Business that the current Pit Master is on hand from New York. The Pit Master of the future, a Bahamian, spent six months in the U.S. prior to the opening of Virgil's. He's now back in Nassau and working under his American counterpart.
Within a year, the Bahamian will be taking over the smokers.
Time may not be completely on their side, however. Bank said Atlantis is expected near full capacity over Thanksgiving Weekend, as a number of special events, such as the college basket- ball tournament, are being planned.
"We expect to be off the races by Thanksgiving Weekend," he added.
"Many of the teams have booked private rooms. Atlantis will be at full capacity and I'm expecting it to be a happy problem."

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Amour Affairs

• Sabastian Way
• Nassau
• Nassau / Paradise Island, Bahamas

An opportunity to push sustainable tourism

Guardian Business: Can you briefly describe your experience in the tourism sector and what your role is today?

Sonia: I had the privilege of working for the Atlantis resort on Paradise Island from 2002-2005. It was a breakthrough opportunity for me after serving seven years at the Ministry of Works as a design engineer and project manager. In the role at Atlantis I drew on my project management skills, as I had responsibility for executing an annual multi-million dollar capital budget for all the senior vice presidents of the company who were at the time my internal customers. Unlike in the public sector I was given a lot of autonomy to run the projects department. I, of course, closely coordinated with the heads of the facilities division but felt empowered, and I was expected to succeed.
I currently own and operate a full service mechanical and electrical engineering consultancy and, as it turns out, my major project is the Baha Mar Development resort being undertaken on Cable Beach. Graphite Engineering Ltd. has been selected as the Mechanical and Electrical Engineers of Record for this project.

GB: Why did you choose to work in tourism as a career?

Sonia: I did not choose tourism specifically as a career, but as a consequence of what was available in the economy. An opportunity in tourism presented itself and I was pleased to embrace it. Bahamian engineers continue to be under represented in major tourism projects at the level of design and onwards. This will only change if we continue to build capacity and, when given an opportunity, we provide stellar service.

GB: What has been your most memorable moment?

Sonia: My team was given the opportunity to oversee the renovation of the Crown Ballroom. By dollar value it was the largest project given to our department. It was not a technically challenging assignment but we had a very short time frame to deliver the project, and we were able to get it done.

GB: Has the industry changed since you started your career? How?

Sonia: As it specifically refers to the engineering services in hotels, there have been a myriad of changes because the mechanical and electrical systems that support these buildings, keeping them lit and cool, continue to be more sophisticated.

GB: What should The Bahamas focus on to stay competitive?

Sonia: We are currently sitting on an opportunity to aggressively push sustainable tourism and make this a given for any property in The Bahamas. We should require that our hotels in the first instance be high performance buildings, with excellent carbon footprints. We should be reusing, recycling and cutting waste. If we can do this without hurting our cost competitiveness we would set ourselves apart from the pack and demonstrate that we really care about our country.

GB: What advice would you give to a young person who is considering a career in tourism?

Sonia: Do your homework, literally. There a lot of opportunities very high up in the food chain of these resorts that Bahamians can fill. We must accept the fact that a lot of the developers are multi-national companies and it means we may be competing with international persons for jobs at home. This means we need to get international exposure and experience, and be prepared to function at the top of our game.

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Atlantis

• Atlantis Hotel
• Paradise Island
• Nassau / Paradise Island, Bahamas

Atlantis 12m teen dream begins

By Scott Armstrong
Guardian Business Editor
scott@nasguard.com
twitter.com/guardianbiz
Aiming to create"the world's greatest teens club', Atlantis has begun construction of its latest$12 million project at its Paradise Island resort.
The club is part of a wider package of$100 million investment by Kerzner International which is set to create around 400 new jobs for Bahamians.
Building on the huge success of its Atlantis Kids Adventure facility, aimed at children up to 12 years old, the new 1,114 sq. meter facility will cater to 13 to 17-year olds and has a number of exciting technological features designed to set it apart as the best such facility in the world.
Currently around 15 w ...

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Atlantis Casino Upgrade To Create 350 Jobs

Atlantis will create up to 350 jobs following a $7 million revamp of sports betting and poker room facilities, according to its top executive.
George Markantonis, the president and managing director of Kerzner International (Bahamas), said the planned renovations will bring Paradise Island up to speed in the gambling arena. In recent months, hotel executives in The Bahamas have placed a renewed focus on improved gaming facilities and the introduction of new regulations to remain competitive.

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Atlantis Gets New Owner

After 17 years of investing billions of dollars to transform Paradise Island into one of the world's premier destinations, Kerzner International Chairman and CEO Sir Sol Kerzner announced yesterday that his company has transferred ownership of Atlantis Resort and the One&Only Ocean Club to Canadian real estate conglomerate Brookfield Asset Management, one of his company's lenders.

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Atlantis Grapples with Skills Shortage

The top executive at Atlantis says that on any given day the mega resort has 300 to 400 job vacancies, a figure that will shoot up to 600 or more by the time it finishes its restaurant and casino expansion this summer. George Markantonis, the president and managing director, insisted that there...

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