Tenants force malls to cut their rent as sales slump in Australia

Australia’s biggest shopping-centre operators, Westfield Group, Stockland and GPT Group, are lowering rents for new stores while existing tenants call for cuts as major mall sales drop for the first time in a decade.

Myer, the nation’s largest department store chain, will close as many as a quarter of its outlets as leases expire if rental costs, estimated at 52 percent higher than those paid on average by New York-based Saks, aren’t cut.

Premier Investments, the largest operator of small stores, is closing 50 shops and seeking lower rents at remaining sites.