ABACO MARKETS AND THE FIRE

July 2001 Table of Contents

ABACO MARKETS AND THE FIRE

Abaco Markets moved quickly to remedy the effects of the Golden Harvest fire. Shortly after the fire CEO Reginald Sands said "We will do everything possible to minimise the disruption of service and product availability at our other locations, including Sawyer's Market, Solomon's Warehouse, Treasure Cay Mini Mart and Abaco Wholesale."

The other Abaco locations will offer longer operating hours, initially 8 am to 9 pm so as to assess the need going forward. Critical perishable inventory such as bread, milk and produce were being flown in to complement the $2 million of inventory already on the island. The subsidiary companies in Nassau and Grand Bahama will provide support, product, equipment and personnel when necessary, and frozen and fresh meat cuts will be processed at the Sugarland premises and distributed to the other locations based on consumer demand. All staff will be retai to ensure as strong a service level as possible. When necessary, the stocking of the shelves will be done by a night crew to minimise disruption in the aisles during the day.

Mr Sands further stated: "Because of out broad comprehensive insurance coverage there will be no negative financial impacts to the profitability of the company, but of course there will be operational challenges to face. Be assured we will be doing everything we can to ensure that we continue to provide a clean and comfortable shopping environment and experience for our Abaco consumers. In light of this, we will examine the existing facilities for immediate expansion to facilitate the increase in demand, and we will commence plans for a bigger and better Golden Harvest, and although it is still to early to project we are targeting a nine-month completion time. We invite suggestions and feed-back from our customers so as to ensure that we are providing them with the best possible service during this time of recovery."

July 2001 Table of Contents