Hallett Cove Shopping Centre full of vacancies as traders worry about future
Traders at Hallett Cove Shopping Centre are increasingly worried about their future as more shops shut – the latest being EB Games.
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A third of shops at a Con Markis owned shopping centre are empty raising fears about the future for remaining tenants.
The closure of the EB Games outlet on Saturday is the 17th store to shut up shop at the Hallett Cove Shopping Centre.
All but one Wendy’s outlet in the food court of the Lonsdale Road site is vacant.
Shopfronts in the food court have been fitted with signs saying they are “closed for redevelopment”.
When The Advertiser visited the shopping centre at 11.15am on Tuesday, one shop had not sold a single product since it opened at 9am.
The manager of that shop, who asked not to be named, said you could “shoot a cannon” through the mall at times.
“People come here for grocery shopping … but the centre itself, it’s just dying,” she said.
“We try talking to centre management and they avoid us, basically. They keep saying they’ve got plans but I don’t think we’ll actually see it happen.”
She worried she could lose her job if her employer decided the store she managed was no longer profitable.
A small-business owner, who six months ago took over the shop of which she was a former manager, said trade had “declined dramatically” since she took ownership.
“In that time we’ve had the unforeseen closure of Subway, Koko Dream Cafe, the Japanese and now EB Games,” she said.
“I can make rent and we do have an established business so we do have customers but what we’re not getting is anything to encourage more people in so you put staff on and they’re not busy so you’re paying them to do nothing.
“It should be so much better. I didn’t foresee it getting this bad.”
In a written statement, the Makris Group said the vacancies were “a good example of the changes we’re all seeing in the retail sector.”
“Makris Group invested $50 million to expand and upgrade the centre about 10 years ago and it provides a very high quality shopping experience for the local community and the majority of traders including Woolworths, Big W and Aldi have been performing well,” the statement read.
It said consumers “changing shopping habits” had made trade “challenging” for some stores.
The group said that had “resulted in a higher level of vacancies than we would like” but it was working to attract more retailers.