Stores mull terminating contracts with malls as sales decline

Revenues of store owners at malls have taken a major hit with retail sector being impacted by partial partial lockdown and other restrictions imposed by the state administration. As per Economic Times, mall-owners have begun receiving contract termination requests from various stores.

In Ahmedabad, malls were asked to remain shut over weekends since end of March this year. From April 29, they had completely shut down operations in the wake of fresh guidelines issued by the state.

After a decent revival in footfalls around January-end, people once again stopped visiting malls from the second half of March. Since then, mall footfalls fell by over 50 per cent. Most stores which are shutting down are either luxury brand stores or clothing and apparel stores. This has led to many stores giving notices to cancel their contracts despite lower rentals and other relief measures, says Jayesh Kotak, Managing Director, Iscon Balaji Group, which manages a city-based mall.

The situation has left mall-owners in a lurch as managing malls and meeting its operating expenses be it security, staff salaries, maintaining the premises, along with bills and tax payments is not possible without revenue inflows.