Guild lobbies landlords
May 22, 2014
PHARMACY Guild of Australia
executive director David Quilty
and national president George
Tambassis met with the leaders
of the Shopping Centre Council
of Australia (SCCA) to explain
that the viability of pharmacies in
shopping centres would be at risk
should rents not take into account
the increasing impact of price
disclosure.
SCCA members include the
owners and investors in major
shopping centres including
Westfield, Stockland and GPT.
Writing in his forefront editorial,
Quilty said SCCA ceo Milton
Cockburn had committed to
distributing the Guild’s recent
‘2014 Pharmacy Rental Report –
Price Disclosure Impact Edition’
to his board members and to
make pharmacy rents an item for
discussion at the next meeting.
“Importantly, he committed
to work with the Guild to help
ensure that his landlord members
are aware of the issues facing
pharmacy.
“It was agreed that the SCCA
would help facilitate briefings
by the Guild of individual SCCA
landlord members around
Australia, building on the work that
has already commenced in Victoria.
“The Guild will look to provide
those briefings to key landlords in
coming months.”
Quilty said Cockburn had
also highlighted that landlords
themselves faced increases in
operating costs.
Cockburn said the SCCA board
met last Thursday and he briefed
them on the discussions and
distributed the Guild material.
He also told the board the Guild
would be seeking meetings with
the Heads of Leasing to brief them
individually and that he had offered
to facilitate these as necessary.
“The Board was fully supportive
of this.
“We obviously value having a
relationship with the PGA which
enables these matters to be
discussed.”
The Shopping Centre Council
of Australia said in its newsletter
there were only 1,084 pharmacies
in shopping centres or slightly
over 20% of total community
pharmacies, with more than half
of these in smaller neighbourhood
centres where the average
occupancy cost was low.
It said 4% of community
pharmacies were located in the
higher demand regional centres,
which “generally have much higher
foot traffic and higher rents.”
Read the Guild report HERE.
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