BY Leroy Smith
The Pomeroon Food and Beverages Inc. which carried the Miami Subs, Papa Pete’s Pizza and Dixie Lee Chicken franchises have closed the doors on these operations citing the the country’s economic slowdown as the reason for the decision.
The company is hoping to continue with the service of its Papa Pete’s Pizza as customers continue to demand it.
The News Room was able to confirm this morning (Monday, May 8, 2017) that the company began downsizing last year, however, it was until the first week in February this year that management of the 704 Food and Entertainment bar laid off the remaining staff who served in the kitchen.
The closure comes months shy of the business’s four year anniversary which opened its multi-million dollar operations at the Corners of Lamaha and Albert Streets in September 2013.
Over the last few days, the News Room reached out to several former employees of the establishment who spoke of them being out of jobs as a result of the closure but that said they also received severance packages.
Speaking with a source close to the operations of the establishment this morning, the News Room was told that a decision had to be taken to discontinue the operations as business declined tremendously over the last two years at the fast food section of the business. The Sports Bar, however, continues to function as patrons continue to support this leg of the establishment.
The News Room was told that currently, persons can still place orders and use the drive-through to make their pickups but there are no dining facilities available to the public at this time and the kitchen staff which amounted to two dozen persons is now down to six.
The company is now in a period where it is using up remaining stocks from the kitchen to supply patrons of the Sports Bar once these are depleted the lower flat of the building will be converted to a full-fledged kitchen which would provide exclusive catering for the Sports Bar and the menu would be a diverse one.
Despite the closing of the food chains locally and the formal notification given to international holders of the franchises, they have thus far failed to formally respond to Pomeroon Food and Beverages.
“The fast food industry in this country is a tough one and our concern to the people out there who wish to get involved is this business is that you need to look at the current spending power of the citizens and the projected spending power. You have to ask yourself, can these people take off all these fast food outlets we are establishing here? We have several which have been for some time now and they are expanding, and then we have brands which are even returning after a long time, so those are things we need to look at” a Manager associated with Pomeroon Food and Beverages Inc. told the News Room this morning.
