Small business retailers can’t take a break in dealing with landlords over the collapse of retail traffic in shopping centres. Yesterday, several retailers told me that in addition to demands for extraordinary business and personal financial data, the landlords are demanding a signed confidentiality agreement.
Two requests I have seen make it clear that a signed confidentiality agreement is required before any discussions can proceed. This is despite existing leases covering confidentiality requirements.
It makes no sense that landlords are demanding more paperwork when they have a lease in place covering these requirements.
Every day this drags on is a day closer to small retail businesses going to the wall.
The behaviour of many shopping centre landlords in Australia is appalling. Their approach to dealing with the mandatory code as agreed by the national cabinet makes a mockery of the decisions by state and federal governments. The landlords are demonstrating that they are a law unto themselves.
On top of extraordinary demands for personal and business financial information, some landlords are refusing to put anything in writing, demanding that the matters are discussed. I suspect this is so there is no record of the discussions.
Shopping centres, major shopping centres, are empty. People are not visiting. This is not due to the retailers. The retailers should not have to bear the costs of their tenancy if the centre is not delivering the people expected to be in the centre in the usual course of business.
Governments have to step in here and help address what is now a crisis for independent small business retailers because the landlords are acting, together it seems, agains these most vulnerable retailers.
This is why I support an immediate three months rent free arrangement – to provide time for politicians to actually understand the problem and to realise that their decisions so far, while made with the best intent, have disadvantaged small business retailers and pushed SME retail to the brink of collapse … because of appalling behaviour of shopping centre landlords.
While it sounds melodramatic, this is a crisis for many families around Australia. It has been made a crisis by the landlords and their disinterest in fair resolution of the situation brought about through no fault of SME tenants yet for which SME tenants are having to carry the majority of the financial cost.
Absolutely appalling, unethical & un-Australian behaviour!
Mark I suspect the landlords you referring to are digging their own graves through their own short- term blinkered response to this crisis. Our government should remember this should the major players be bold enough to request their own financial bailout whilst sending the families of thousands of hard working small business owners to the wall.
Our banks will be wise to stay clear of any additional funding for this highly indebted sector particularly whilst the major players are not willing to play fairly.
Have just read that the board and senior management team of one of the largest players have agreed to a whopping 20 per cent pay cut of their enormous remuneration packages. Wow! All at a time whilst thousands of their tenants are borrowing funds simply to pay their staff and to feed their own families. They have got to be kidding!
Time to name and shame.