McGills Newsagency in Elizabeth Street Melbourne closes this week, a victim of changing times and soaring rent. Entrepreneurial newsagents should be talking with the owners of McGills to access customer lists and market services around interstate and overseas publications. This specialised part of the business has loyal customers and would be a nice earner for the right newsagent.
Unfortunately I think this closure might just be the tip of the iceberg,the turning point if you will,and be a precursor for more high rent newsagencies to go broke or close ,especially in shopping centre and A grade strips where rents cant possibly be covered in the medium to long term with the size of increases per annum and the already ridiculously high rent to turnover ratios
I agree Helen, my rent goes up 5% each year but, the price of a paper doesn’t nor lotto commission – we absorb this for our landlords.
Somethings got to give and it might be the landlords when they realise they have empty centres, with squatters residing!
Westfield in Doncaster(Victoria) is offering a rebate or freeze on rental increases just to keep the specialtly shops in the centre.
A shopping centre near us in the northern suburbs some tenants are not even paying the rent because the income is not there and
like Michael above said an empty shopping doesn’t look good !!
Take the magazine section from McGills, add a small but popular military/railways hobby book section and I reckon you’d have a viable small business suitable for cheap CBD rental location.
Did any Melbourne CBD newsagencies take over stocking overseas papers like The gauardian from McGills. I asked at McGills just before they closed and they didn’t know…
My sister went to buy a paper at her local Elsternwick newsagency recently, only to be confronted with a closed shop and a sign saying the business was “in liquidation”
I can’t believe a newsagency in this wealthy suburb could not be a success.
Sign of the times.