Only vaccinated shoppers should be allowed in malls says Solly Lew

By Dominic PowellUpdated September 23, 2021 â€" 12.31pmfirst published at 9.17am

The head of one of Australia’s largest retailers has called on shopping centre owners and federal and state governments to ban unvaccinated shoppers from malls around the country to protect staff and customers.

Retail billionaire and Premier Investments chair Solomon Lew said on Thursday once Sydney and Melbourne exit lockdown, shoppers should be temperature-checked and asked to show proof of vaccination before being allowed to enter shopping centres. Premier and Mr Lew are Australia’s largest retail tenants, running chains such as Peter Alexander, Dotti, Jay Jays and Smiggle.

“It’s our strong preference that the government mandates that all persons entering a mall be vaccinated and temperature checked as well,” Mr Lew said.

Premier Investments chairman Solomon Lew and Premier Retail CEO Richard Murray.Credit:Eamon Gallagher

Mr Lew said he would not be comfortable sitting down in a food court next to someone who was unvaccinated, and noted it was important the onus for enforcing the rules was placed on shopping centre owners as it would not be practical for each store to have its own marshalls checking customers’ vaccination status.

“The centre owners have an absolute responsibility to ensure that the venue is not only safe for the entire family shopping experience, but to ensure that our retail staff have nothing to fear by trying to earn a living working in retail stores,” he said.

“I look forward to sitting down at some point in time and having my snack in the food court.”

Mr Lew and Premier’s new chief executive, former JB Hi-Fi boss Richard Murray, said governments were still working through plans with retailers, but Mr Murray said the business “needed some clarity”, especially from the NSW government which seems on track to end its lockdown as soon as early October.

The comments came after Premier reported an almost doubling in profits over the past 12 months. Net profit boomed 97 per cent to $271.8 million in the year to July, despite the company saying it lost a collective 50,000 trading days during the financial year due to store closures.

The result was largely thanks to Premier’s online sales, which hit a record $300 million for the year, making up over 20 per cent of the retail conglomerate’s $1.4 billion in total sales.

Premier’s buoyant year allowed the board to declare a final dividend of 46 cents per share, up 10 cents on last year, payable on January 27, bringing the full-year dividend to 80 cents. Mr Lew, who owns 37 per cent of Premier, will receive around $47 million in the final payout.

Premier Investments operates a string of retail brands including Jay Jays, Just Jeans, Portmans and Smiggle.Credit:Edwina Pickles

All of its divisions and brands posted strong performances for the year. Even stationery retailer Smiggle, which has struggled in recent years, reported a 25 per cent increase in sales.

Shares in Premier gained 3.3 per cent to $27.69 by midday, wiping out Wednesday’s losses.

The financial results were the first for Mr Murray in the CEO role. He told investors he was excited to be part of the fashion retailer, saying he could see many similarities between Premier and his previous business, JB Hi-Fi.

“I think great retail is great retail,” he said. “Both the businesses are great at trading their positions.”

Yet like many retailers, Premier is weathering the effects of the prolonged lockdowns in Melbourne and Sydney, with trade across the business down 9.5 per cent in the seven weeks since the beginning of August.

The sales fallout has been partially mitigated by online sales again, the company said, and some stores were progressively starting to reopen.

Mr Lew said the company was “locked and loaded” for the remainder of the year despite the sales slowdown, having invested significantly in stock to get ahead of the shipping delays that are worrying retailers ahead of Christmas.

“Without stock we don’t have a business,” he said. “And our stock for Christmas is in the warehouse or on ships, already on its way to Australia.”

“Premier remains optimistic about the all-important second quarter of FY22 [the Christmas quarter] as the vaccine rollout progresses and the economy re-opens.”

Premier received over $70 million in JobKeeper funds through this financial year and the one prior, however, it repaid $15.6 million of the funds back to the government earlier this year, with the company saying no “net” JobKeeper benefit was recognised in this result.

The company’s stake in department store Myer was valued at $63.5 million. Mr Lew is pushing for the Myer board’s resignation, seeking to appoint his own directors alongside a majority of independent directors.

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