EziBuy was established in 1978 by the Gillespie brothers. Photo / NZME
EziBuy was established in 1978 by the Gillespie brothers. Photo / NZME
NZX-listed Argosy Property had already classified national fashion retailer EziBuy as a tenant at risk well before the Australasian business hit voluntary administration on Monday.
Peter Mence, Argosy chief executive, said the real estate investor which is the retailer’s landlord at the successful Albany Mega Centre had concernsas far back as a year ago.
“We had booked them as a tenant at risk in the last 12 months because we could see volumes were down,” Mence said, citing slower sales from the premises on the North Shore.
Falling sales worry landlords because they use this as one measure to gauge financial stability.
Rents at the centre opposite Scentre Group’s Westfield Albany were around $100/sq m above what that shop had been paying for its large-format premises, he said.
“Their use was not appropriate for the site because rental levels had crept up and it was making it difficult for them,” he said.
The centre at 140 Don McKinnon Dr is anchored by successful retailers Farmers, Spotlight and The Warehouse.
Mence noted the centre had plentiful parking as well as some big-name brands trading from there.
About six months ago, EziBuy had given notice to end its Albany lease, well before the administration was announced, he said.
EziBuy has suffered a 51 per cent decline since the pandemic eased up.
Argosy had therefore re-leased the space to an international retailer who Mence couldn’t announce and he expects they will open at the centre soon.
Albany Mega Centre was “generally acknowledged as one of the best bulk retail centres in the country. It was ahead of its time and it’s been solid for us for a long time, even during the GFC,” Mence said.
The U-shaped property alongside State Highway 17 has tenants with shops of 350sq m to 3300sq m and is valued at $161m, with weighted average lease terms of 3.03 years, 413 car parks and a net lettable area of 33,792sq m.
Argosy had also once leased a Palmerston North warehouse to the clothing business which was its main warehouse, Mence said.
He expressed relief that the situation had changed some years ago.
The Herald reported on Monday that the Australian-headquartered online clothing retailer was in voluntary administration.
EziBuy was a subsidiary of Mosaic Brands, which in a market update warned that the outfit had been placed into the care of administrators. Mosaic Brands sells nine prominent women’s clothes lines including Millers, Rockmans and Rivers but said the performance of EziBuy was “at odds” with the rest of its operations.
EziBuy’s New Zealand website shows it has six shops: Albany, Sylvia Park Lifestyle opposite the mall, Tauranga Crossing, Palmerston North, Wellington’s Stout St and Christchurch’s Tower Junction Mega Centre.
Retail experts said the locations the retailer was trading from were in high demand and New Zealand landlords wouldn’t suffer.
“It’s easy to lease those sorts of properties these days,” one specialist said today.
NZX-listed Kiwi Property Group owns the Sylvia Park Lifestyle Centre, Mt Wellington Highway and it seems that the landlord isn’t too worried either.
“While we’re disappointed EziBuy will no longer have a presence at Sylvia Park, the retailer’s lease was due to expire and we’re looking forward to announcing an exciting new tenant for the space,” a spokesperson said.
EziBuy said it was established in 1978 by the Gillespie brothers, that it mailed more than 23 million catalogues annually and filled more than 1.75 million orders here and in Australia.
In 2017, it was sold to Alceon Group.
Shares in Argosy were trading around $1.10 yesterday, down 19 per cent annually for the business with a market cap of $935m. Kiwi shares were trading around 91c, down 15 per cent annually.
