Countdown General Manager Corporate Affairs, Kiri Hannifin, joins Newstalk ZB’s Mike Hosking to explain what you can expect when shopping during the lockdown. Audio / Newstalk ZB
Shopping mall owners and managers with 140 big centres are fuming about having to stay shut when the country goes to level 3 alert.
Campbell Barbour, New Zealand Council of Retail Property chairman, decried the spectre of major centres being banned from opening, saying people were in supermarkets and pharmaciesand a proposal to the Construction Sector Accord to operate malls with strict controls was met with no response.
"Job losses, loss of big brands and loss of choice for consumers and businesses that are important to people. It will have disastrous consequences," he predicted of malls remaining closed for further weeks.
Major retail owners Kiwi Property - with Sylvia Park, Lynmall, Palmerston North's The Plaza and Hamilton's Centre Place - Stride Property, whose centres include NorthWest, NZ Retail Property Group with Westgate, Milford and Fraser Cove in Tauranga, Colliers International which manages many centres, Scentre Group with the Westfield brands, AMP Capital, Tinline Properties and Oyster Capital - are council members who Barbour said were extremely concerned about the ongoing weeks on non-trading.
"We're now faced with just an outright 'you're closed'," Barbour complained of the prospect of moving to level 3.
"There will be economic carnage. The retail industry has its fragility and it can't withstand not trading for months on end like this. There will be serious long-term damage. Businesses will fail. This is going beyond the current situation, into serious ramifications for an important sector which employs about 10 per cent of our workforce. We've put a range of measures to the Construction Sector Accord and we've not heard back," he said.
"We've got to get people back shopping and get the economy moving and we've suggested rigorous arrangements to ensure that can be done safely," he said.
Schools could be open later next week, people could return to manufacturing, people would be able to move house, shoppers could visit pharmacies and supermarkets but not malls.
But Retail NZ says that up to 75 per cent of businesses have online channels and would be able to take advantage of a lifting of restrictions, which could come next week although the remainder would find it tough.
"There'll be a real challenge for the remaining 25 per cent to look at putting in place either online sales or telephone orders, and for some businesses, especially cafes etc, it may not be practical," said Retail NZ chief executive Greg Harford.
Leonie Freeman, Property Council chief executive, and Barbour wrote to the Government last week suggesting a unified approach to re-opening malls.
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New Zealand's retail property and shopping centre industry formed a significant part of our economy with a contribution of $15b or 6.8 per cent of GDP, they said.
Members owned 140 shopping centres with more than 5000 retailers and cover over 2.4 million square metres of rentable area and they offered to co-ordinate a consistent response to malls opening under level 3. Many centres already stayed open and operational throughout the level 4 lockdown period to ensure that the essential services within them such as supermarkets, pharmacies and medical services have been available to the public.
"Our members have implemented steps to maintain the highest levels of public safety possible. Centre management could direct their operation in a cohesive and organised way," their letter said.
Retail centres won't be open under level 3. Photo / Steven McNicholl
"This gives our shopping centre management the ability to operate these centres in whatever ways required to meet best practice public safety standards. We can make the rules and under the commercial terms of the leases in place ensure they are followed. Our members are confident that the tenants within our centres will comply with the measures required to get back to work. This is a very different scenario to general main street," they said.
They offered a rigorous cleaning, hygiene and sanitisation regime.
"This will be developed individually by each centre but will include, during trade ongoing cleaning and sanitising of public spaces particularly focused on the highest touchpoint surfaces such as handrails, daily additional (night clean rosters) focused on surface hygiene," they said.
Contamination and disinfection procedures would in place. Face masks and other personal protective equipment would be provided to all cleaning and security staff.
Amendments to pedestrian movements, closure of some entrances, removal of respite seating and dwell areas, closure of all playgrounds and other amusements or amenity installations, closure of other features designed to slow pedestrian and encourage milling ie temporary pop-ups, water fountains, garden areas, hire equipment were also offered.
A reduction of dining seating to ensure social distancing compliance and closing some areas was also offered.
Measures to ensure social distancing like gap spacing for escalators, closure of elevators, gap spacing markings in all areas of queuing, gap marking in all stores at point of sale were also proposed.
Contactless payment solutions would be encouraged too, Freeman and Barbour wrote.
