Property developers have been left "gobsmacked" after a shock announcement from German hypermarket Kauflandthat it would leave the Australian market, despite never opening a store and investing over half a billion dollars on property, staff and distribution.
The company, which is owned by $170 billion retailer Schwarz Group, announced on Wednesday it would make an "orderly withdrawal" from Australia, giving no reason other than to say it would focus on its European operations
Is this a result of the Australian condition or a result of a German one ?
Retail is certainly going to go through a major reset, with others already on the skids and the on-line outlets in line for all the blame
But like our motor industry which did not see the writing on the wall and continued to build stuff that the public did not want and sell it at high prices, the retail section has been ripping off it's customers with excessive mark-ups on cheap imported stuff and not even giving any service --- so the public has had enough
This continued downward path for Australian business will have a definite impact on Australia's economy
