Australian Politics Forum - The grim demise of Australian Retail !

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The grim demise of Australian Retail !
Feb 13^th, 2020 at 9:47am

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The grim demise of the Australian shopping mall: Depressing photos show that local consumers are abandoning the old retail hotspots as we battle huge mortgages and turn to cheaper internet buys

A seemingly dreary Melbourne shopping mall has a legion of dedicated fans

Despite its spiritless looks and uninspiring choice, it has become a cult mall

'There's two supermarkets, Coles, and its competition - another Coles', a fan said

One over-zealous fan even had 'Northcote Plaza' tattooed to his leg in dedication

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7989213/Is-future-Australian-shopping-R...

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greggerypeccary

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Re: The grim demise of Australian Retail !
Reply #1 - Feb 13^th, 2020 at 10:16am

We're in the middle of a retail revolution and I must admit, I'm torn.

I like bricks & mortar shops, and I don't want to see the staff lose their jobs.

However, I also enjoy the low prices on the internet and the fact that I can have my purchase delivered to my door (or PO box).

At least one retail shop closes down in Perth every week.

Last week, one of our biggest music retailers shut down (a place where I've spent many thousands of dollars).

https://thewest.com.au/business/retail/osborne-parks-kosmic-sound-music-store-cl...

There are empty shops (and offices) in Perth that have been for lease for several years.

Things are gonna get a lot worse too.

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minarchist

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Re: The grim demise of Australian Retail !
Reply #2 - Feb 14^th, 2020 at 7:42pm

I just love how sad that shopping centre is Grin

Sunshine Plaza is pretty much in a similar state. It had a Target that closed in 2007. After that, the place only had a couple of supermarkets and pretty much every other shop was an Asian clothing shop. In the early 2010s, they rebuilt the place and managed to bring in a few noteworthy stores, but they left after a couple of years. The Woolies, which had been there for decades, became a Dimmeys, which is now obviously closed as well. Last time I was there, there was a Dimmeys, Baker, Fruit Shop, some sort of Arab cafe and an Arab grocer, everything else were pretty much an Asian Cheapie Shop.

Gotta love the Melbourne West Grin

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Bobby.

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Re: The grim demise of Australian Retail !
Reply #3 - Feb 14^th, 2020 at 7:45pm

minarchist wrote on Feb 14^th, 2020 at 7:42pm:

I just love how sad that shopping centre is Grin

Sunshine Plaza is pretty much in a similar state. It had a Target that closed in 2007. After that, the place only had a couple of supermarkets and pretty much every other shop was an Asian clothing shop. In the early 2010s, they rebuilt the place and managed to bring in a few noteworthy stores, but they left after a couple of years. The Woolies, which had been there for decades, became a Dimmeys, which is now obviously closed as well. Last time I was there, there was a Dimmeys, Baker, Fruit Shop, some sort of Arab cafe and an Arab grocer, everything else were pretty much an Asian Cheapie Shop.

Gotta love the Melbourne West Grin

The rents are too expensive.
I know the owner of a food court shop who closed down because
it took all the takings from Saturday to Thursday just to pay the rent!

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John Smith

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Re: The grim demise of Australian Retail !
Reply #4 - Feb 14^th, 2020 at 7:49pm

the only shopping centers that will survive longer term will be those that are able to swap from a traditional role of predominantly shops, to a role where they are more a meeting place ... somewhere to go for a drink or a coffee, a meal, a movie... maybe a game of ten pin bowling or snooker, a playground for the kids etc ... with a few shops to service the impulse buyers. They will replace the traditional town squares and pubs where people once used to gather.

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John Smith Gold Member Offline Australian Politics Posts: 76738 Gender:	Re: The grim demise of Australian Retail ! Reply #5 - Feb 14^th, 2020 at 7:52pm Bobby. wrote on Feb 14^th, 2020 at 7:45pm: The rents are too expensive. i was told that a small coffee/ice cream cart in Pacific Fair (largest shopping centre in qld) was quoted $2000 a week to put his cart outside. How many icecreams or coffee's does one need to sell to pay just the rent .. it's ridiculous.
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Bobby.

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Re: The grim demise of Australian Retail !
Reply #6 - Feb 14^th, 2020 at 7:53pm

John Smith wrote on Feb 14^th, 2020 at 7:52pm:

Bobby. wrote on Feb 14^th, 2020 at 7:45pm:

The rents are too expensive.

i was told that a small coffee/ice cream cart in Pacific Fair (largest shopping centre in qld) was quoted $2000 a week to put his cart outside. How many icecreams or coffee's does one need to sell to pay just the rent .. it's ridiculous.

I hope the greedy landlords go broke.

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Setanta

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Re: The grim demise of Australian Retail !
Reply #7 - Feb 14^th, 2020 at 7:55pm

John Smith wrote on Feb 14^th, 2020 at 7:52pm:

Bobby. wrote on Feb 14^th, 2020 at 7:45pm:

The rents are too expensive.

i was told that a small coffee/ice cream cart in Pacific Fair (largest shopping centre in qld) was quoted $2000 a week to put his cart outside. How many icecreams or coffee's does one need to sell to pay just the rent .. it's ridiculous.

There's a Kebab shop in Lismore that has to sell ~1000@week to pay his rent/utilities. He works with his Asian wife and about all they make is a living. That the renters think they can keep rents what they were in the past into the future will kill both the rentees and the renters.

edit: On consideration not sure if it was 1000 a week or a month he said, either way it goes from extortion to a little less extortion. After the last flood he was ready to give up, he hasn't but many more have. So many empty shops.

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« Last Edit: Feb 14^th, 2020 at 8:01pm by Setanta »

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minarchist

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Re: The grim demise of Australian Retail !
Reply #8 - Feb 14^th, 2020 at 8:00pm

Bobby. wrote on Feb 14^th, 2020 at 7:45pm:

minarchist wrote on Feb 14^th, 2020 at 7:42pm:

I just love how sad that shopping centre is Grin

Sunshine Plaza is pretty much in a similar state. It had a Target that closed in 2007. After that, the place only had a couple of supermarkets and pretty much every other shop was an Asian clothing shop. In the early 2010s, they rebuilt the place and managed to bring in a few noteworthy stores, but they left after a couple of years. The Woolies, which had been there for decades, became a Dimmeys, which is now obviously closed as well. Last time I was there, there was a Dimmeys, Baker, Fruit Shop, some sort of Arab cafe and an Arab grocer, everything else were pretty much an Asian Cheapie Shop.

Gotta love the Melbourne West Grin

The rents are too expensive.
I know the owner of a food court shop who closed down because
it took all the takings from Saturday to Thursday just to pay the rent!

I think our obsession with Real Estate is in part to blame for the demise of retail. There's been stores empty in the town I live in since I moved there in 2012. One work colleague told me how high the rent was for a cafe in the town he lives in with less than 10,000 people. He estimated that the amount they sold in coffee was only enough to cover the monthly rent.

I think the only survivors out of the retail collapse will be your mega malls, such as Chadstone and Highpoint, and the strip shops in the older suburbs where there's about a dozen or so shops with street exposure, preferably with a smaller supermarket nearby.

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John Smith

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Re: The grim demise of Australian Retail !
Reply #9 - Feb 14^th, 2020 at 8:07pm

Setanta wrote on Feb 14^th, 2020 at 7:55pm:

John Smith wrote on Feb 14^th, 2020 at 7:52pm:

Bobby. wrote on Feb 14^th, 2020 at 7:45pm:

The rents are too expensive.

i was told that a small coffee/ice cream cart in Pacific Fair (largest shopping centre in qld) was quoted $2000 a week to put his cart outside. How many icecreams or coffee's does one need to sell to pay just the rent .. it's ridiculous.

There's a Kebab shop in Lismore that has to sell 1000@week to pay his rent/utilities. He works with his Asian wife and about all they make is a living. That the renters think they can keep rents what they were in the past into the future will kill both the rentees and the renters.

I had an applicant once who had two news agencies in one shopping center .... (Robina town center). He said trade was great, he had very good turnover. But one Friday he locked the doors and walked away from both shops. When i asked him why his response was that if he had a few good weeks, the rent went up .... if the following few weeks were crap, the rent NEVER came down. Centre management had access to his cash register receipts so they knew exactly what his tirnover was. After a few years of this he felt he was working for free. In the end his casual staff working 2 or 3 days were making more money than him so he walked away .. leaving all the stock and equipment behind.

I spoke to him a few months later when i saw him in another shopping center car park. This time he had one of those car wash /detailing businesses that sit outside shopping centers. Rent was fixed because people pay for car washes with cash mostly, and there was no way the center could track how many cars he washed and for how much. He said turnover was one tenth of his old business, but he went home with a lot more money. And he was working only half the hours of the old business.

I once tried to negotiate rent for a shop space that had been empty for two years. He wanted far to much. I offered about 70% of his asking price but he wouldn't budge. Said he would rather leave it empty. It sat empty like that for another year after which he put it up for sale.

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Our esteemed leader:
I hope that bitch who was running their brothels for them gets raped with a cactus.

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Setanta

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Re: The grim demise of Australian Retail !
Reply #10 - Feb 14^th, 2020 at 8:17pm

John Smith wrote on Feb 14^th, 2020 at 8:07pm:

Setanta wrote on Feb 14^th, 2020 at 7:55pm:

John Smith wrote on Feb 14^th, 2020 at 7:52pm:

Bobby. wrote on Feb 14^th, 2020 at 7:45pm:

The rents are too expensive.

i was told that a small coffee/ice cream cart in Pacific Fair (largest shopping centre in qld) was quoted $2000 a week to put his cart outside. How many icecreams or coffee's does one need to sell to pay just the rent .. it's ridiculous.

There's a Kebab shop in Lismore that has to sell 1000@week to pay his rent/utilities. He works with his Asian wife and about all they make is a living. That the renters think they can keep rents what they were in the past into the future will kill both the rentees and the renters.

I had an applicant once who had two news agencies in one shopping center .... (Robina town center). He said trade was great, he had very good turnover. But one Friday he locked the doors and walked away from both shops. When i asked him why his response was that if he had a few good weeks, the rent went up .... if the following few weeks were crap, the rent NEVER came down. Centre management had access to his cash register receipts so they knew exactly what his tirnover was. After a few years of this he felt he was working for free. In the end his casual staff working 2 or 3 days were making more money than him so he walked away .. leaving all the stock and equipment behind.

I spoke to him a few months later when i saw him in another shopping center car park. This time he had one of those car wash /detailing businesses that sit outside shopping centers. Rent was fixed because people pay for car washes with cash mostly, and there was no way the center could track how many cars he washed and for how much. He said turnover was one tenth of his old business, but he went home with a lot more money. And he was working only half the hours of the old business.

I once tried to negotiate rent for a shop space that had been empty for two years. He wanted far to much. I offered about 70% of his asking price but he wouldn't budge. Said he would rather leave it empty. It sat empty like that for another year after which he put it up for sale.

How does the shopping centre track what he takes and pays? How do they justify that? There's a Chinese shop in Lismore Square that only does cash, no eftpos.

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chimera Gold Member Offline Australian Politics Posts: 13182 Armidale Gender:	Re: The grim demise of Australian Retail ! Reply #11 - Feb 14^th, 2020 at 8:20pm Letting the management have his receipts and then walking out leaving his stock suggests a lack of business sense.
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Setanta Gold Member Offline \/ Peace man! Posts: 16884 Northern NSW Gender:	Re: The grim demise of Australian Retail ! Reply #12 - Feb 14^th, 2020 at 8:23pm chimera wrote on Feb 14^th, 2020 at 8:20pm: Letting the management have his receipts and then walking out leaving his stock suggests a lack of business sense. Management killing the golden goose is also not good business sense. A farmer with a goose would encourage it to breed, not starve it to death.
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Gordon Gold Member Offline Australian Politics Posts: 21035 Gordon Gender:	Re: The grim demise of Australian Retail ! Reply #13 - Feb 14^th, 2020 at 8:26pm Takeaway food shops are next to go. The food is made in a 'dark kitchen' in a suburb where the rents are cheap and the food is delivered by Indians (yuck) on scooters.
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Setanta

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Re: The grim demise of Australian Retail !
Reply #14 - Feb 14^th, 2020 at 8:31pm

Gordon wrote on Feb 14^th, 2020 at 8:26pm:

Takeaway food shops are next to go. The food is made in a 'dark kitchen' in a suburb where the rents are cheap and the food is delivered by Indians (yuck) on scooters.

Interesting tidbit for you. In ancient Rome, the plebs did not cook, they did not have the space or equipment to. The plebs life was a life of street food and takeaways. Only those considered relatively wealthy had home cooked meals and slaves to cook them.

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