A new Jimmy's Liquor Store is under construction on Nassau Street and should be open in time for Christmas, according to its top executive. Founder of the Bahamian Brewery & Beverage Company, Jimmy Sands, said the new location will now serve as both a store and warehouse for future distribution. The addition of spirits, rather than just beer, to the product lines have boosted revenue of late, as the company looks to expand its retail reach. The new store on Nassau Street will employ eight Bahamians.
"I think we're doing quite well. With all the doom and gloom, we're still putting up a fight. Sales are better, much improved from last year," he noted. Sands said the Nassau Street store will be the company's fifth location in New Providence. There is one in Grand Bahama, he said, and another in Eleuthera. Since selling his stake in the popular Butler & Sands franchise in 2000, the brewery chief has been gradually expanding his new retail network, although he notes it will "never come close" to the competition.
Bahamian Brewery & Beverage Company has continued to carve out its market share while competing with the Commonwealth Brewery Limited, owned primarily by Heineken. Through the new stores, Sands said he is aiming to boost brand awareness among Bahamians. Calling his beers still a "young product", with November representing the firm's five-year anniversary, he told Guardian Business that locals will hopefully begin to view the brewery with a keen sense of nationalism. A marketing campaign will highlight this national pride in a fully Bahamian-owned company.
"That is the new campaign. We want people to be proud of what they have, whether it be juice, soda or beer. You go to the southern islands, and they are proud of their products. In Nassau, we tend to be very Americanized. We have to get back to basics," according to Sands. The next big marketing opportunity is an upcoming regatta at the end of the September. The Grand Bahama Regatta, in conjunction with the Bahamas Sailing Association, will provide the brewery with added exposure through their sponsorship and branded sculling vessels.
Back in June, the brewery lashed out at its competition over accusations it was being blocked purposefully out of the market. Sands accused his competition of providing major incentives with the provision that the event or retail center cannot sell his products. "Major events require money and ask people to sponsor them," said Nico Pinotsis, the CEO of Commonwealth Brewery Limited. "When you sponsor events, you make agreements with respect to the money you put in and the exposure at the end.
And you have expectations on what organizers will give you in return." Nevertheless, the Sands told Guardian Business that the Grand Bahama brewery continues to find success in specific areas. Virgil's, the smokehouse restaurant at Atlantis, recently launched the second of two beers in collaboration with Bahamian Brewery and Beverage Company. Bush Crack Beer, and now Virgil's Ale, are available on tap at the restaurant. The establishment only sells Sands' beers.
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