“I hate landlords,” exclaimed William Landale, chief executive of furniture retailer Lombok. Speaking at last week’s Retail Week Conference, Landale rather descriptively said what many small, up-and-coming retailers were thinking.

While hate may be too strong a word, Landale said that landlords did not offer any flexibility in lease negotiation and, despite the tough climate, their attitude did not seem to be changing.

And, although every retailer has their own frustrations with landlords, smaller, specialist retailers are bound to suffer the most.

These smaller retailers – with anything from 10 to about 40 stores – do not have the same clout as major multiples when negotiating leases. They can’t call the shots and, because of that, these retailers are left with high rents that often mean their stores are barely profitable.

Yet the same landlords profess to seek out new and exciting retailers to make their schemes unique. With so much space opening in the next couple of years, having some more unusual and specialist retailers will make schemes stand out.

Every shopping centre should have retailers such as H&M, Zara and New Look, but you can get those retailers in every main location. Also, having a specialist retailer such as Lombok will help a shopping centre stand out from the crowd. If customers have a choice of where to drive on a Saturday morning, they need a reason to turn left rather than right.

With a real need for specialist and unique retailers, landlords should ask themselves just how much they are encouraging them or how high the barrier is that they have to jump over. As landlord and tenant, there is always going to be tension between the two parties, but to refuse to budge an inch is foolish.

The tough climate will certainly see some retailers go out of business. There is always churn in the retail industry, but that should not be at the expense of smaller retailers that don’t have bad business plans, but are squeezed too much.

Smaller, niche retailers need to find what works best for them, but if landlords refuse to play ball, they may either disappear or switch to online-only brands. What’s more, with shopping centres competing with each other, as well as with retail parks and the massive growth in online shopping, these unique retailers are essential to get shoppers through the doors.

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