Mark McInnes, ex David Jones CEO and now the boss of Premier Investments (Just Jeans, Portmans etc.) has accused shopping centre landlords of gouging tenant retailers with increased rent while retail sales and customer numbers decline.
"It's not in our shareholders' interest to run a loss-making store where the only person making a profit out of our sales is the landlord" said Mr. Mcinnes. In calling for landlords to lower their base rent, Mr McInnes said there was rent tension right across the retail specialty sector. Premier are actively seeking rent reductions of up to 30%.
