An open letter to Frank Lowy

Dear Frank

I have always been a great admirer of you and the way you have conducted your life. Your story is one of inspiration, success and philanthropy. However, I have been taking notice of some disturbing trends in your shopping centres and malls and would like to bring some points to your attention.

Firstly, when I go in to a shopping centre, I do not expect to be pounced upon by traders from kiosks who "just want to ask me a question" (as if that's all they want!). Now, when I go in to a marketplace full of traders I expect that kind of behaviour and often look forward to some bartering and banter. In the more genteel surroundings of your centre I expect to be left alone until I go in to a retailer. This idea of trying to extract every dollar for every square metre of floor space, including the corridors is ludicrous and results in people wanting to spend less time in your centres than more, which I imagine would be your objective.

Secondly, following the same theme of RoI on floor space, do you have a ratio of access to goods in the leases of your tenants? If not, why not? Your leases cover all sorts of things like opening hours, regular refurbishments etc to maximise the shoppers' experience, but many retailers are so cluttered there's little room for the customers to move around the store. This seems to be the SOP for many if not most of your tenants - and that includes the big grocery stores! When was the last time you went in to a newsagent?

Finally, I would like to suggest that your shopping centres should value-add rather than look for some extra way to raise some minor revenue. I'm talking about your WiFi initiative. For $2.00 an hour a customer can connect up to Westfield's wireless network. Big deal. Don't you think you'd receive more kudos (and ultimately more and happy customers) by providing WiFi for free? Many retailers and retail chains as well as hotels - particularly in the US - already do so. Given the buying power of the Westfield Group I would imagine that your costs in the area would be negligible. Yes, I know that some people, like poor students, would attempt to abuse it but you're clever... do what they do in the US... kick them off after an hour or two and don't let them back on again for an hour. The sign says that they're doing that so that people can enjoy the sunshine & fresh air, but we know better ~wink~

In short, here are three examples of short term thinking that if ditched would lead to long term gain. The reason that people go to shopping centres is for convenience. The reason that you want them to say as long as they can is so that they will continue driving the wheels of commerce. The reason they don't is because the environment isn't as convenient and welcoming as it should be!

Regards

Harry