The Shoe Depot closes mall location amid COVID-19 outbreak

With no clear indication of when social distancing orders and the mandated 24-hour curfew will end, businesses throughout the capital are drowning in financial loss and uncertainty, which has already resulted in at least one business deciding to close the doors of one arm of its operations for good.

Egan Kemp, the co-owner and president of Eunison Co. Ltd., which operates as The Shoe Depot, said the company was looking forward to great growth opportunities this year and was extremely optimistic, especially since the government had finally allowed footwear and apparel merchants to import their products duty free.

But then the COVID-19 pandemic struck, forcing the company to shutter its three locations in Palmdale, Golden Gates and The Mall at Marathon. Things turned south when the company attempted to negotiate rent concessions with its landlords at the mall location, given the economic challenges due to COVID-19.

“We have already experienced significant negative effects in several areas. Obviously, zero sales means zero money incoming. Yet, there are the weekly expenses that continue to build in the background. We have to contend with those expenses and that quickly depletes our available cash,” Kemp said in an emailed response to questions from Guardian Business.

“To be clear, we have been mall tenants since the very beginning in the late 1980s, starting under the Bata name, growing into a store of approximately 4,221 square feet. Unfortunately, the mall has put us in an impossible position. Our existing lease expires on April 30th. Our discussions on lease renewal were not successful. We expected that the landlord would take a ‘tenant retention’ approach and factor in the current COVID-19 climate and the dire economic reality of the next several months and years to offer some measure of compromise.”

Believing that it would be imprudent and unwise to sign a long or short-term lease at the same pre-COVID-19 rent rate, Kemp said the company decided to regrettably and reluctantly walk away from its flagship location.

“So, we made the hard call not to renew the lease, which means closing the store,” he said.

Kemp said it was a stressful experience getting permission from the commissioner of police to allow his staff to work to help vacate the premises, but the mall ultimately granted him a five-day extension to complete the process, which was a challenge since it is hard to find “boxes to pack up an entire store in a COVID-19 lockdown”.

Kemp said at this point, he’s not sure if the company will relocate. What he is sure of is his desire to see the government take a more active role in helping to minimize the economic impact of COVID-19.

“For example, it could have been useful to offer some guidance to both commercial and residential landlords in these times. Government overreach is always a real concern for me, but they are here to do just that – govern – by gathering resources, listening to needs and seeking optimal solutions for the country as a whole,” he said.

“The economy is the pivot for our nation’s success. Listening to and understanding the population’s realities is crucial at this time in order to step through this fiscal nightmare. As Bahamians, but especially for those who govern, there will have to be ‘outside-the-box’ thinking that is also practical.”

As for his staff complement of just under 50 employees, Kemp said the company has had to take the route of hundreds of other businesses in the country and lay off non-essential staff.

“We appreciate the government’s efforts through NIB (the National Insurance Board) and figured that since we have faithfully contributed to NIB over our company’s entire history, that this is where NIB should provide support. As far as we know, none of our employees have received NIB payments, so we have offered a week of owed vacation advance pay to anyone who wanted it now instead,” he said.

“Like everyone else, we are trying to cope. As owners, we are Christians first and our faith provides great perspective, direction and comfort in these times. Our employees are all highly positive and encouraging regardless of our circumstances and that is a great help for us as a company. We don’t know where this will all end, but we do know there will be a lot of hard work and difficult decisions to be made as we journey through it.”

The post The Shoe Depot closes mall location amid COVID-19 outbreak appeared first on The Nassau Guardian.

source https://thenassauguardian.com/2020/04/27/the-shoe-depot-closes-mall-location-amid-covid-19-outbreak/