The owner of some of Australia’s most iconic retail brands has been savaged for banking millions in taxpayer funds while posting record profits.
Just Jeans, Smiggle owner slammed as ‘unethical’
One of Australia’s largest retailers has been slammed as “unethical” for posting record profits while taking up to six months to pay suppliers.
Premier Investments, which owns shopping centre staples including Just Jeans, Smiggle and Peter Alexander, has rarely been out of the headlines in the last few weeks.
Last Friday, the firm, chaired by retail veteran Solomon Lew, announced a 29 per cent surge in profits to $137.8 million.
That’s despite the company being a major beneficiary of taxpayers’ cash through the JobKeeper wage subsidy program designed to keep people in work during the coronavirus pandemic.
While banking some big bucks, Premier has also cried poor saying it could close up to 350 stores unless its rents come down while declaring landlords “will be responsible for job losses” if the shops shut.
The company, that also owns Portmans, Dotti and Jay Jays, also refused to pay rent on any store in April after it closed all of them during the national lockdown.
But Premier has defended its actions saying there was “unprecedented uncertainty” from the pandemic which led them to seek “support from suppliers for temporary flexibility in payment terms”.
It says it has “progressed towards” usual terms but some reports have said that could still be up to four months from delivery to payment.
https://www.news.com.au/finance/business/retail/just-jeans-smiggle-owner-slammed-as-unethical/news-story/122bfae963ee73e52deaf0fb7efb3785