Banyo, capital value as about $250,000, staff of 4, my hours about 60 per week.

The real problem now is running costs.

Ten years ago, one weeks turnover would pay a years rent, 20 years ago it was more like two years rent, today, it can be more like 15 to 20weeks turnover just to pay a years rent and runnig costs, wages excluded.

You see returns are now less than 10% in most cases. Now that's fine if you turn over billions like the big guys, but 8% of one million is chicken feed these das, and that's the real problem.

It is not uncommon for a restaurant to net less than 2% of turnover, and that's a joke, especially considering ones house is often on the line.

IR laws have crushed this industry.

How can no worker be no worse off if the no longer have a shift, or a job at all.

I say again, min wages are to high. My mate with a rest pays $41 per hour for dish washers just because its a Sunday.

Since the new laws, he has shut one, sold another, sacked 20+ staff and no longer pays pay roll tax.

And our former IR minister, now PM says how clever am I.

Governments should provide welfare, not employers.

*Ten years ago, one weeks turnover would pay a years rent, 20 years ago it was more like two years rent, today, it can be more like 15 to 20weeks turnover just to pay a years rent and runnig costs, wages excluded.*

Well there is the rub, Rehctub. Alot of commercial rents today
are clearly ridiculous. Westfield did not become megarich for no
reason.

I read the other day that some Sydney commercial rents are amongst
the highest in the world. Consumers are slugged with all this.

Consumers now have other options, I'm not going to cry tears for
landlords.They will just have to meet the new reality or their shops
will stand empty.

Yabby I agree.

I think there may be a change in the laws as well.

You at present, say a shop sits empty, then along comes a tenant, signs a lease and pays rent.

Four years into the lease and two new shopping outlets latter, the tenant goes broke.

The landlord then sues them and they may loose their home.

The part that is wrong is that the LL was not receiving rent when the shop was vacant. I think this law may change.

In my case my turnover dropped by 40% in four years but my rent increased by 5% each year.

LL are not interested in any of this as they simply want their rent.

I,m with you, they will learn THE HARD WAY.

I'm not sure about the law changing Rehctub, its a commercial
deal so I doubt that the Govt will become involved.

Those shopping centre tenant agreements IMHO are all in favour
of the landlord and its tenant beware. The problem is that
lots of little people have dreams and think that they can somehow
make a go of it, only to learn the hard way.

They get their super payout and risk the lot, including the house
and before you know it, they are on a pension, venture failed.

But maybe the present crisis will wake people up, as a number of
large clothing chains etc have gone bust and more will follow.

Landlords know that empty shops are a bad sign for their centres,
so if enough shops stand empty, they will have to face reality.

Real estate speculation might not be as profitable as it used to
be, but I don't think that that is a bad thing in the big scheme
of things.

Yabby & Rehcub,
I read an article recently about a situation that has developed in the US.
It was about shopping malls. The situation is a bit different here as
our shopping malls, centres if you like, are not generally outside of
towns, but usually well within suburbs.
The article was about Houston in Texas.
The shopping malls are deserted and some even abandoned.
They sit there surrounded in acres of empty car park asphalt.
Even in the area alongside major roads, according to the article many
of what they call strip malls are near empty.
I can't remember where I read the article.
It was written by someone who was visiting the city for a conference.
Westfield must be seeing some of this in the US so perhaps they should
use that experience to modify their behavior here.
I think the conclusion was that people are not driving out to the
large malls but shopping local.

I tried to find the article but to no avail.
However believe it or not or only in America I found a dead mall site.

http://deadmalls.com/index.html

Cheers & Happy New Year