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Myanmar: Retail businesses lament high rental fees, now going online

Retail business owners are grumbling over shop rental fees in Yangon malls, which they say remain high despite the drop in footfall and demand as a result of COVID-19.

“We are all doing business and so it should be give-and-take on both sides. The high rental fees during this time is not convenient for us at all,” said a female shop owner who operates shops at Ruby Mart, Taw Win Centre and Hledan Centre.

The businesses continue to complain even though major mall operators in Yangon have already reduced rentals.

The rental fees at Junction Centre will be reduced by 25 percent in April, May and June, while rentals at Hledan Centre, Gamone Pwint, Capital Hyper Market and Ruby Mart were slashed by between 20 percent and 80pc in April, The Myanmar Times understands.

Some shopping centers have also exempted their stalls from rental fees for April, including City Mall, which is owned by Universal City Company, and Dagon Center, which is under Dagon International Group.

Currently, Taw Win Centre and Gamone Pwint are closed, while Sein Gay Har, Hledan Centre, Ruby Mart, Junction Centre, and Myanmar Plaza remain open.

Still, stall owners are not happy with the newly reduced fees for their stalls, so they are planning go online to sell their products.

“I opened my stall at Hledan Center on April 20, but only three people came that day. We’re facing very low sales now so, we’re going online to sell our products,” one business owner said. – Translated

Source: https://www.mmtimes.com/news/retail-businesses-lament-high-rental-fees-now-going-online.html