Author Archives for James Kolacz
November 20, 2019 1:41 am
Published by James Kolacz
A flickering retail pulse and spiralling vacancy rates spell dangerous times ahead for the classic retail strip store. But is there a light at the end of the tunnel? Not so long ago, Chapel St. and Bridge Rd. were icons of the independent retail world in Melbourne, but recent years have seen a huge spike...
November 8, 2019 1:22 am
Published by James Kolacz
Occupancy Cost = Gross Rent/Turnover x 100 Anybody who’s spent any time around the leasing side of retail knows the equation. Invented sometime after the wheel, but somewhat before AirPods, it’s become a cornerstone of retail lease negotiation. The wheel has undergone little change and yet, for now, remains relevant (when will we get those...
October 25, 2019 4:49 am
Published by James Kolacz
From its humble beginnings in a shed in Torquay back in 1969, Rip Curl has established itself as one of the premier surfing companies in the world. Having already established itself as a force in Australia, sponsoring some of the world’s best surfers over the past few decades has allowed Rip Curl to expand across...
October 1, 2019 7:05 am
Published by James Kolacz
If NAB forecast are to be believed (as opposed to a slightly more optimistic outlook from the Commonwealth) physical retail in Australia is on the brink of recession. While it’s obvious to most that retail, and indeed, the economy in general are struggling, how much of this is due to the entire sector struggling, and...
September 20, 2019 2:04 am
Published by James Kolacz
Each month sees roughly $27 billion flow through retail sales. A fair proportion of this slides through the fingers of two of Australia’s biggest banks; the NAB and the CBA. Understandably, then, retailers and economic forecasters often turn to these two (amongst others) for an indication of what the future holds. To do so this...
August 27, 2019 3:21 am
Published by James Kolacz
Well, well, well. We’ve reached the end of the financial year for 2019 and what a year it has been! In a word? Volatile. ‘Reshaping,’ -as the industry likes to call it- climbed 6% while New Sites fell by 10% compared to the first half of the financial year. Sounds rather gloomy, no? What the...
August 27, 2019 2:34 am
Published by James Kolacz
Retail lease negotiation is rarely an enjoyable process. Even the sentence is boring. Unfortunately for retailers, it is an uncomfortable but necessary part of every business. If you don’t get it right, it can have a huge snowball effect on your business. Here at Leasewise, we have over 20 years of retail leasing experience...
June 19, 2019 12:38 am
Published by James Kolacz
A recession in the retail industry brings with it the need for a change in retail leasing mentality, or a ‘retail lease reset’. The current retail environment The last few months have seen some dire forecasts for the Australian economy come to fruition, as the economy slumped to a per-capita recession in May....
May 21, 2019 1:49 am
Published by James Kolacz
Here at Leasewise, we’re privileged to work with some of the finest up-and-coming and established businesses in the Australian retail lease landscape. Over the next few months, we’ll shine the spotlight on just a few of them to help understand what makes them so successful. First up is Soul Origin, who have been a client...
May 1, 2019 1:44 am
Published by James Kolacz
The current economic environment is taking no prisoners. Already in the last 12 months we’ve seen the collapse of such retail stalwarts as Roger David and Ed Harry and now, on the back of sustained losses over the past 18 months, Big W is being forced to close 30 of its stores over the next...
