Empty retail shops have become a common sight in what was once a vibrant shopping strip, as rents continue to push business owners to the brink - and beyond.
Macrossan Street tenants are hardest hit with a handful of landlords who own much of the retail property reportedly charging rents of up to $22,000 a month, with reports from some business owners saying they face a hike in rents rather than the decrease they urgently require.
According to Jo Wagner, who runs Port Douglas Cookies on Macrossan Street, city based landlords don't understand the market, and apparently don't appear to be trying.
"Most of them I think are Melbourne people that don't even live in the town.
"They come up in June and July when it's thriving and they just think we're whinging and trying to do them out of money. They have no idea what it's like to live and work in Port Douglas.
"It used to be that you could guarantee that you would do your turnover through the busy times so you could squirrel it away so you'd have enough to see you through the quiet time.
"That's not the case anymore. People aren't spending what they used to."
Ms Wagner thanked her regular customers for their support which has enabled her to keep the doors open, highlighting the importance of shopping locally where possible.
President of the Port Douglas Chamber of Commerce, Ken Dobbs, said that an overall loss of businesses can't wholly be attributed to rents, adding that some landlords are open to negotiation.
"There has been a lot of business closures in the past five years, but there has been a new supply in that time frame. The nett position is that we've probably got less than we had at that time.
"The real concern I've got is the loss of take away food outlets. That will do us really damage. The people who come here want restaurants but they also want the take away snack food too."
The Chamber's Doug Calvert agrees that rents are only part of the problem, citing wages and decreased sales as other major factors in the decline of Port's businesses.
Mr Calvert, himself a retail business owner with shops in Macrossan Street, qualified his statement by saying that as sales reduce and rents remain the same, the percentage of turnover required to
pay the rent increases.
The Chamber will complete a review of business closures in 2011 in January next year.
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They all make empathetic sounds, but the banks never give an inch, the public servants just charge as though its thier entitlement, and everyone suffers. But its way worse in Europe and the States, where the full burden of the excesses of the debt binge, gets landed back on those who took the least risk, but who copped the bill anyway. The world, or the western world at least, is being taught some very harsh lessons..and it all about debt, and something for nothing wealth. Now the money has run dry, what's left is life.
One last, and maybe unpleasant truth.
Its not GFC 2. It was not a GLOBAL FINANCIAL CRISIS… it was never global.. its just the problem of the 'West'.
Here in Asia, busieness has never been better. And there is one main reason. Asians dont have debt. If you dont do debt, you dont do binge. And no binge means no bust.
I add, the whole debt binge was a manipulated game by the banking families, to gain control, as they have now done in Europe, with the US next.
The world is not all it seems as you see it on CNN.
From the landlord's perspective, we ARE taking some of the heat! We're trying to run a business and survive too, with financial pressure from huge unrecoverable costs such as land tax, bank interest, insurance, maintenance etc. If the landlord can't pay these, it's tenants won't have a place to trade. Surviving has to be a team effort during these difficult times so we work with our tenants and consequently haven't had a vacant shop for a long time.
From a tenant's point of view, a majority of our costs continue to rise while we are unable to raise prices. Rent is only part of the problem in our business. Labour is the biggest cost we have. The so called "Modern Award" works against the tourism industry, penalising us because of the hours we trade - this town needs a resort award to ease this pressure. Another cost is Council rates - these continue to increase every year (why?) and are actually the biggest component of our "outgoings" charges passed on by the landlord.
So, while some southern landlords may be out of touch in trying to raise rents 20%, not all are trying to do this. Speak to your landlord but remember, they aren't banks! They have financial pressures and are trying to survive as well. While rent may be a small shop's biggest cost, remember that there are costs such as those mentioned above that are driving the rent that needs to be charged.
But just because they have you over a barrel it dont mean you have to drop your pants.Know your rights , use arbitration ,negotiate ,OH&S laws make most LL grimace, if your paying blue chip rent demand a blue chip premise.
Pain shared is pain halved.
P.S. apologies to any landlords of reason but please comment and tell us your side.
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