Is the honeymoon with Shopping Centres over; is a divorce with the Australian small retail sector underway..?

Is the honeymoon with Shopping Centres over; is a divorce with the Australian small retail sector underway; probably yes.

Can the marriage between the Australian Shopping Centre Industry Australia’s efficient small retail sector Australian specialty chains, medium and SME retailers be saved; only if the triple whammy market reforms The RETAIL Alert Group is proposing occur?

1. Internationally existing Shopping Centres and malls are coming under increased vacancy pressure; some US Malls a vacancy disaster.

2. In Rumania there has been a tenant’s revolt.

3. In the UK Westfield has been challenged on operating costs in their London centre.

4. In the UK the Prime Minster of the UK Gordon Brown in embroiled in a development dispute with Westfield in Bradford. Labour MP for Bradford North Terry Rooney accused Westfield of making "unmanageable promises" for the site and driving retailers and shoppers to other cities.

5. In Australia we have the New South Wales government inquiry PROMOTING ECONOMIC GROWTH AND (Retail) COMPETITION THROUGH THE PLANNING SYSTEM.

6. Meetings of disgruntled retail shopping centre tenants and retailers crunched by the giant retailers are being held.

7. Politicians such as Senators Barnaby Joyce and Nick Xenophon are actively questioning competition and commercial market imbalances in Australia’s closed market Shopping Centres.

8. Industry associations such as the ARA (Australian Retailers Association) are being pressured by retailers to act.

9. The Federal Government has a review on proposed Creeping Acquisitions (Obligation to Divest) powers for the ACCC; Shopping Centres in the sights of this review.

10. There is a waste of time and money Supermarket Price Watch been established through Choice?

11. There has been a failed Productivity Commission investigation into the Australian Shopping Centre Industry.

• Can all this activity be just ‘noise’; we do not think so.

• Can all of this activity on an international scale be a coincidence; we do not think so.

• Is there a reflection of market imbalance created by Australian Shopping Centres over the last thirty years though State(s) Planning and Zones Regulation; The RETAiL Alert Group thinks so.

Reference 1.  (Taken from the RETAiL Alert Group Federal Creeping Acquisitions Report)

Australian Retail Property Time Period - Occupancy Competition Status

Is the honeymoon with Shopping Centres over; is a divorce with the Australian small retail sector underway; a realignment of bargaining power for Australian specialty chains, medium and SME retailers at least?

As we said in a recent article ‘…the peasants are revolting…..’!

The solutions;

1. Australian State Governments through the Productivity Commission established Retail Tenancy Group has the ability to introduce Harmonised Retail Tenancy Legislation Reform.

2. The RETAiL Alert Group is recommending that all States undertake a harmonised approach on the New South Wales Government PROMOTING ECONOMIC GROWTH AND (Retail) COMPETITION THROUGH THE PLANNING SYSTEM inquiry.

3. The Federal Government provides the ACCC with genuine anti-trust ‘Creeping Acquisitions’ and ‘Obligation to Divest Powers’.

The triple whammy of the three proposed reforms will place the Australian retail sector high on the International list of providing Australian consumers with a low cost, highly efficient retail sector with the Australian specialty chains, medium and SME retailers playing a significant and growing small sector role.

The winners; Australian consumers and the Australian economy in general.

Is the honeymoon with Shopping Centres over; is a divorce with the Australian small retail sector underway; probably yes.

Can the marriage between the Australian Shopping Centre Industry Australia’s efficient small retail sector Australian specialty chains, medium and SME retailers be saved; only if the triple whammy market reforms occur?

The RETAiL Alert Group is ready and willing to play a facilitating, positive outcome role; our door is open.

To express views email Shopping Centres is the honeymoon over?

Tony Standley

Principal
The RETAiL Alert Group (Australia)

Mobile +61 (0)41 924 0497
e-mail info@adsass.com.au
Fax +61 (0)2 9987 0633
Website http://www.retailalert.com.au