By NATARIO McKENZIE

Tribune Business Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net

THE Bahamian franchisee for Little Caesars Pizza is targeting as many as four Nassau restaurants, after investing nearly $500,000 in the first outlet, which will create 30 jobs.

Barrett McDonald, part-owner of the Little Caesars Bahamas franchise, told Tribune Business at the grand opening of its unagural Oakes Field outlet: “We aim to have about 30 employees at least. The demand is that great.

“Little Caesars thinks that we could expand to four locations over time. We definitely have the next one in mind. We are looking at the Palmdale area at the moment.

“In fact, we have already secured the place. We’re just waiting to recoup some of the funds we expended and make arrangements to fund the next location.”

Mr McDonald and his brother’s investment group have benefited from Hotels Encouragement Act incentives, which allowed them to bring in the necessary equipment duty-free.

As to how they secured the franchise for the third largest pizza group in the US, Mr McDonald said: “There was an advertisement in one of the dailies indicating that they were looking for investors. We contacted them and we started discussions, and then we had to prove that we had the capability to be able to fund the venture.

“We approached some banks, but their requirements were so onerous it didn’t seem to make sense to us right there and then, and so we decided to go on our own and get it done. That’s why it’s so important to develop savings habits. My brothers and I put the funds together to fiance the venture.”

Andres de Robina, Little Caesars’ regional managing director for Latin American and the Caribbean, said the Detroit-headquartered pizza company, famous for its ‘Pizza! Pizza’ advertising catch phrase, was expanding its global footprint.

He added that the Latin American and Caribbean region are an important part of that expansion. Little Caesars will now go head-to-head with Marco’s Pizza, Dominos and Pizza Hut in the Bahamian market.