Malls must check jab status at entry: Lew
SOLOMON Lew has attacked the nation’s shopping centre landlords, saying consumers will avoid their centres unless there are vaccine and temperature checks at mall entrances, with the billionaire admitting he would not feel safe sitting in a food court without Covid checks at the door.
The Premier Investments chairman said shopping centre owners had a responsibility to ensure the safety of shoppers and store staff.
“First of all we need to pro
tect our customers and you need to make it a safe place to shop. Families are coming, mum, dad, the kids, grandparents coming into a big seasonal shopping time,” Mr Lew said after Premier Investments unveiled an almost doubling of its annual profit to $271.8m.
Premier Investments also ended the 2021 fiscal year with a bulging war chest of $523.3m in cash, as well as a $1.2bn equity stake in kitchen appliances business Breville.
And where economies were reopening, such as in Britain and Ireland, and children were going back to school, its stationery chain Smiggle was enjoying booming sales.
But in Australia, Mr Lew has witnessed the threat to retail first hand from nationwide lockdowns with Premier Investments’ portfolio of retail stores that include Peter Alexander, Smiggle and Just Jeans racking up 50,581 lost retail store trading days in 2021.
Now with non-essential retail ready to open, he wants the shoppers who visit malls – where 90 per cent of his retail stores are located – to be vaccinated before they enter and for the landlords to take the lead on monitoring this.
“The mall owners have to take more responsibility, they are the ones that are letting people into centres so at the entry point there should be a check,” he said.
“Our strong preference is with the government mandate, that with all persons entering the mall be vaccinated and checked for temperature as well and that should take place at the point of access.”
Premier Investments’ fullyear net profit rose 97.3 per cent to $271.8m, while sales at its core Premier Retail arm lifted 18.7 per cent to $1.4bn.
Premier declared a final fully franked dividend of 46c a share, up 10c, taking full-year dividends to 80c a share. The final dividend will paid on January 27. Shares in the company rose 82c at $27.63.