Hyperdome ‘secret deal’ over $1.1m rent bill failed struggling Choice discount store

A former discount store owner claims a large state government-owned shopping centre refused to reduce his $1.1 million rent even when he faced bankruptcy.

A former discount store owner claims a large state government-owned shopping centre held off reducing his $1.1 million a year rent until it was too late and he was forced to close.

Former Hyperdome tenant Nishil Vekariya, who owned two Choice Discount store outlets at the centre, said he was “on his hands and knees and begging for mercy” to have his rent reduced.

Choice the Discount Store, which closed in September 2019 and reopened again in 2020 before going into liquidation, was charged $63,000 a month with further rents of $32,000 for a second site inside the Hyperdome.

Mr Vekariya said he had asked three times for rent reductions before slipping behind in monthly payments to the tune of nearly $30,000.

He said the landlord, the Queensland Investment Corporation, known as QIC, refused his requests until August 2019, a month before he was forced to close his stores for six months.

A former discount store owner claims a large state government-owned shopping centre refused to reduce his $1.1 million rent even when he faced bankruptcy.

An eleventh-hour offer from the Hyperdome proposing to cut his rental bill by $4000 a month, was not accepted.

A letter from the centre in August 2019 said the total rent discount amounted to $20,000 for the previous six months between March 1 and September 30, 2019.

The Hyperdome imposed six conditions, including a clause forbidding Mr Vekariya from talking about the deal and allowing him to delay debt payment of $29,165.98 until the lease expired or was surrendered.

“This offer of rental concession is not to be taken as an admission of any liability on the centre’s owner’s part,” the letter said.

“Rather, it is offered as a show of good faith to assist you with your business.”

But Mr Vekariya said the deal was “too little too late” and was not a “show of good faith” and was a greedy state government landlord preying on a struggling small business.

“What bizarre arithmetic allows two rental vacancies to outweigh a reduced rent?” he said.

“I was paying $96,000 a month rent for two sites and the fact that rent was then reduced for a new tenant was heartbreaking.

“I was struggling and was on my hands and knees before my business collapsed.

“This rent reduction offer was not accepted by my leasing professional and instead was a slap in the face.

“It was not a show of good faith and did nothing to help me or my business back on our feet.”

A letter from the Hyperdome offering a discount which had to remain a secret.

The Hyperdome did not respond to Mr Vekariya’s claims saying all information about lease negotiations remained commercial-in-confidence.

The centre had a $60 million renovation in 2020, when a retail war broke out between main anchor tenants Coles and Woolworths.

More than 30 traders and restaurants have exited the Logan-based shopping centre since July 2020.

In March, massive hikes in rent were believed to be behind an exodus of women’s fashion retailers from the Hyperdome, one of the largest shopping centres south of Brisbane.

Women’s clothing outlet Sussan, which operated at the centre from more than 12 years, shut its doors with W Lane and plus-size women’s clothing store Autograph also closing.

The departures renewed calls for an overhaul in management and leasing deals, less than 12 months after national chain Mosaic Brands’ Noni B, Katies and Rockmans also packed up and left.

Owners of the fashion retailers Mosaic Brands said it had been in talks with landlords to renegotiate leases.

Mosaic Brands also owns Crossroads and Rivers, which still have outlets at the Hyperdome.

In February, a reconfiguration of traders at the Hyperdome’s Home Centre triggered talk of a major retail overhaul.

The Home Ware centre, adjacent to the Hyperdome Shopping Mall, has 16 major retailers including Bunnings, BCF, Pet Barn, Pillow Talk, Forty Winks, Carpet Call, and Supercheap Auto.

Late last year, Rebel Sports and JB HiFi moved from the Home Centre into the main Hyperdome Shopping Centre.