Boronia Aussie Veterans Opportunity Shop’s Mick Quinn wants coronavirus rent review
A Boronia opportunity shop that helps veterans in need has not received a rent reduction despite a 90 per cent drop in sales. Now it faces an uncertain future with Anzac Day around the corner.
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Help for struggling Aussie veterans could be in peril with a Knox charity struggling to negotiate its rent as coronavirus restrictions sink sales.
Sales at the popular Aussie Veteran’s Op Shop at Boronia Mall have dropped by 90 per cent after the shop was forced to close its doors because of social distancing rules.
Veterans Mick and Fiona Quinn run a food bank service at the op shop for the vulnerable, and the charity’s profits support the Victorian Veteran Advocacy Centre, which financially aides veterans during difficult times.
Mrs Quinn said the usually profitable charity averages $350,000 a year and now with only a few online sales they’re lucky if $100 is coming in a day.
She said the charity was run mostly by volunteers but had one paid employee.
“If this goes over six months (without rent relief) we could be in a lot of financial hurt,” Mrs Quinn said.
The charity leases two shops at the almost vacant mall — upstairs is their bric-a-brac arm, while downstairs is the bigger of the shops, which runs a food bank service as well as selling whitegoods and furniture.
The bottom shop, which costs $60,000 a year in rent, is leased through Teska Carson, which the Quinns said had yet to come to the party on a new rent agreement.
Mr Quinn said the landlord wanted to see the shop’s past 12 months of finances before he would consider an agreement and was “mucking them around”.
He said the money from the op shop helped pay the bills and lessen the financial burden on veterans who were out of work for two or three years while their Department of Veteran Affairs cases were being considered.
The second shop is leased through Appleby Real Estate and Mr Quinn said he had not heard back after sending an email about rent, which is $30,000 a year.
However, Teska Carson real estate agent Vinson Phu told Knox Leader the landlord was open to discussing a rent release.
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“We’re in the process of negotiating a rental release,” Mr Phu said.
All up the couple lease three properties – two in the mall and the office they use for their advocacy work on Boronia Rd – totalling $120,000 in rent a year.
Mr Quinn said the landlord of the advocacy office had already provided some rent relief.
Appleby Real Estate has been contacted for comment.