We made the decision to not open today. Historically in many major shopping centres, like where my own shops are located, the Australia Day public holiday is soft, break even at best as people embrace the last holiday before the school year starts.
Since we don’t have the obligation of lotteries we decided to not open. While we have magazines and papers in 2 of my stores, the sales and margin are not sufficient to support the penalty rate cost.
2020 is set to be an exciting year and having a day off like today at the start of the year is beneficial in terms of energy. It is also useful focussing on profitable days as they are far more useful than break even days.