Via the AFR today:
Leading retailers like Premier Investments are threatening an avalanche of store closures unless landlords reduce rents as $2 billion a year in sales – equivalent to the annual turnover at Chadstone, Australia’s largest shopping mall – shift from bricks and mortar to online.
Rents for specialty retailers are still rising an average 4 per cent a year, according to figures from listed retail investment trusts, while same-store sales are growing by less than 2 per cent, increasing margin pressure on retailers grappling with higher labour and energy costs and weaker prices.
Major retailers including Solomon Lew’s Premier Investments, Myer, Wesfarmers’ Target, Lorna Jane, David Jones and the Country Road Group are reviewing store networks, closing underperforming stores if landlords refuse to renegotiate and stepping up investment in e-commerce, which is growing 10 times faster than bricks and mortar retailing.
