Greed killing the shopping centre?

[davidc4430]

Retail rents squeeze small stores out of shopping centres

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-02-20/retail-rents-squeeze-small-shops-out-of-shopping-centres/1198...

when i was young if you wanted to go to the big stores you went to 'town' on the bus

then drove into town in your nice car, and parked for free!

then the city got greedy, started chaging for parking.

people began moving their shopping to the  new satelite shoping places like Westfields

same stores and free parking again.

in recent times these satelite shopping centres have been going down the same greed path as the city did

placing restrictions on parking with some now charging for parking.

also raising rents to the stores to the point they were going broke.

now you walk through these centres and see multiple empty spaces.

i asume as no one rents these spaces those remaining get a rent hike to cover the losses.

my very local all new all singing shopping centre that promised a nice Foodland store plus a group of 'specialty' stores, has in the 5 years its been open never fully occupied.

most of the 'speacialty stores' have never materialized

i bet the rent is a major hold back

[martinw-48]

It doesn't make sense to me to have an empty store rather get less rent but I'm obviously a moron.
If I was a landlord I'd be happy to get all my expenses covered and not make a profit rather than have to pay all the bills for an empty property

[springyzone]

You're not wrong. A few years back, my husband and I drove into town (Melbourne) to see an afternoon session of a musical. 

Went to park the car near the theatre. read the parking charged. Whoa, $50 for 2 hours.

Not paying that, we said.

Drove to another parking place a bit further away. It was $55. But time was getting short so we just parked there and ran.

Never again. If we have to go to the city, cheaper to drive part way then get the train as we have free myki cards.

But last Christmas I noticed  something new at  one of the bigger local shopping centres (Fountain Gate). They had roped off part of the parking nearest one of the doors and were charging $10 to park there. The rest of the car park was free. From what i could see, coming and going. most of the paid area stayed empty and I was really annoyed as those represented some of the choicest parking spots of course. So the shopping centre was putting everyone else under more inconvenience, just for the sake of a handful of customers. If that area made more than $100 a day, I would be very surprised. Meanwhile, at Christmas, some others probably couldn't find a spot at all. Maybe then they went to a paid spot. But I wasn't impressed.

[martinw-48]

In Ballarat they've just installed smart parking meters and decided to charge for parking at the little bridge mall shops and had to backtrack due to complaints.
They also metered the parking at the seniors centre and now have had to remove that meter because the seniors club members complained
Also in a very stupid move they've made most of the meters tap and go only

[the4masters2013]

A bakery went out of business Christmas before last.
The rent was $1000 per week...good exposure etc but remembering that this is Bathurst!

Needless to say, the shop was empty right up until last Christmas.

So the owner changed the rent..it is now $1500 per week.

The shop remains empty. Give it time and the rent will go up again.

Surely some rent is better than nothing?

[martinw-48]

The4masters, you'd think so but obviously we're stupid

[ambercat16]

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@the4masters2013 wrote:
A bakery went out of business Christmas before last.
The rent was $1000 per week...good exposure etc but remembering that this is Bathurst!

Needless to say, the shop was empty right up until last Christmas.

So the owner changed the rent..it is now $1500 per week.

The shop remains empty. Give it time and the rent will go up again.

Surely some rent is better than nothing?

---

Apparently no tenant makes the property a tax advantage for the landlord.  Don't know exactly how it works but that is what I have heard.  

Here in the city centre (Darwin), recently the Council have brought in a by-law to force landlords to keep vacant shops to a certain standard of appearance or be fined.  That caused an uproar at the time but the dust has settled now.  Empty lots around the city are now screened and have litter removed regularly.  Empty shops are cleaned up and look a bit less unloved.  Personally I think they should have been forced to remove signage too but baby steps I guess. Within the shopping centres they don't seem to stay empty for too long.

[martinw-48]

Wendy's left Central Square in Ballarat quite some time ago now and that's still empty.

Central Arcade in Hamilton had a major redevelopment and most of that is empty.

There's a fancy new drive through Coffee shop in Hamilton but I can't see that lasting long.

Coleraine has a fancy new servo with fast food and Casterton has the same mob too.
It's forced the old servos in both towns to lower their fuel prices to compete. Now you don't have to drive to Hamilton to get cheaper fuel and you can clean your windscreen and put air in your tyres.
Been a long time since you could do that

[the4masters2013]

I wish our council would do something like this.

The shop I mentioned looks dusty and dirty from being empty so long.

Other empty shops in town are in a similar condition but with heps of cobwebs inside and outside of the shops.

Doesn't make a good look for the town which relies on tourists being here for the car races.

I didn't know about the tax advantage...thanks for that.

[myoclon1cjerk]

Wait and see what happens in the near future re restaurants. More job losses , waitresses etc, and empty buildings as people opt for Uber Eats and stay home to dine. Welcome to the gig economy.