Alshop announces rental exemption to shopkeepers, but mall chains deny

After sales in the shopping malls went to the canvas with the coronavirus crisis, the Brazilian Association of Shopping Retailers (Alshop) issued a statement stating that it was closed agreement with the owners of the enterprises to exempt the rent of retailers in this period of crisis. The problem is, this deal never existed. The announcement took even some shopkeepers consulted by the Broadcast Column by surprise. "It was a bluff. Never had anything official", said the owner of a fashion network, who disapproved of alshop's stance. "It's a lie. It seems like a positioning war to force negotiation," commented the director of the shopping network. Alert. Alshop's announcement attracted the attention of the financial market. Credit Suisse even published a report predicting a 12% to 15% drop in operating profit for BRMalls, Iguatemi and Multiplan (the largest companies in the sector) per month of suspended rent, if this measure were true. Clarification. The Brazilian Association of Shopping Centers (Abrasce) clarified that there is only one "suggestion" for the owners of the networks to postpone the collection of rent, but not the exemption, and also called the statement of Alshop "nonsense". According to Abrasce, the contracts are individual and it is up to the parties to negotiate. Answer. Alshop said there was only one "discrepancy" between the terms used by the associations, but there is an understanding that the negotiations are individual. He also said that it is not feasible to maintain the payment of rent without the stores being operating and added that he hoped the developments would be solidified. Nose growing. Alshop is chaired by Nabil Sahyoun and represents Riachuelo, Polishop, Pernambucanas, Habib's, Cacau Show, Divino Fogão, Amor à Pedaços, among others. This is the second time the association has been disallowed in public. At Christmas, it reported sales growth of around 9.5%, but this was denied by another group of shopkeepers, and Alshop ended up "correcting" the given to 7.5%.