The merger of the Supermart and The MarketPlace chain is possibly a result of market pressures. They either both suffer as a result of competition or consolidate and take advantage of having a larger customer base and inventory.

The Supermart owners as a local company had long been aware of the fragile balance between the locally owned groceries. The MarketPlace gained a foothold in the early 1970s, and expanded rapidly by taking over the Piggly Wiggly and all of the A1 supermarkets. They quickly became the dominant group, holding a significant percentage of the local industry.

At one stage in the 1990s, when the Co-op supermarket was struggling, a group of businessmen that I was part of as lead negotiator began dialogue with the former manager, Harrison Isaac. The books revealed $4 million in revenue, costs of $3 million and a loss of $300,000 the previous year.

Cost was the first problem, so we reached out to the Supermart, looking to gain the support of its inventory, warehousing and better pricing.

Our successful negotiations were favourable to the Supermart for two reasons: the deal had the potential to increase the shared inventory by several million dollars each year; and it preserved the percentage of locally owned grocers.

This same effort, the details of which were only a matter of using the merchandise warehousing of the Supermart between the entities, would fail because the Bermuda Industrial Union refused, even though the Co-op was failing and facing foreclosure. The administration had been consumed by the misguided rumour that, through contracting a deal with the Supermart’s warehouse, I was giving the business to Front Street. They refused to sign a lease with my name on it, which was the ominous straw that broke the camel’s back.

So the Co-op foreclosed, and the result was that more than $4 million a year of the existing business that might have increased with better business procedures and products, as disbursed all over town to such an extent that Arnold’s on St John’s Road had to cut out land to create a new parking lot, while the Shopping Centre, a few blocks away, gained an influx of business without having to apply a fresh coat of paint to entice new customers.

The inevitable has set in, albeit nearly 30 years later.

This merger should go a long way in helping to stabilise the market. With the combined customer base, it potentially represents the largest collection of consumers on the island. Market share is the new buzzword in any competitive business environment. They can introduce new products with less fear of competition.

Speaking to the issue of diversification, the Black community has been set back generations owing to a self-inflicted apartheid that has been imposed against its merchant class for more than 50 years, aided by a political ideology of “Us and Them”.

The labour philosophy, at its extremes, led to a reversal of culture and the acceptance of being consumers and servants to the denigration of being business owners. The new deal was “You can own all the businesses, just pay us a fair wage”. Naturally, all the wages were then spent on consumer goods. This was compounded further by political leadership that sold its people’s opportunity for 30 pieces of silver.

The new axiom for advancement, rather than being based on excellence and proficiency, was replaced with the connectedness of being closest to political power.

All of this inconvenient truth belies the reason that Blacks in Bermuda don’t have a proportional share of the market. Our hands are all over this merger because of our failures, the Co-op being a prime example. Yet, 60 years ago, under dire circumstances, we were competitive in almost every field — we had excellence and tradesmanship.

It was famously stated by the late Eva Hodgson that we were first-class men but second-class citizens. Now, we can hardly claim to be either in the marketplace.