The nondiscretionary retail space in Australia is an exception to the general gloomy sentiment directed at the retail sector. This is somewhat similar to the discretionary/nondiscretionary bifurcation in the United States, but distinguishing factors make the Australian retail proposition more compelling — and possibly unique in global retail.

Investment proposition and the impact of COVID-19

I began planning this article in another era, before the onset of COVID-19. At the time, I was involved in assisting a major Australian group in securing an offshore investor as a capital partner for its growing nondiscretionary retail platform. Although on a pure performance and fundamentals basis the proposition for nondiscretionary retail was — and remains — abundantly clear, it was also apparent sections of the market were not properly appreciating the distinction, with cap rates across the retail sector softening appreciably. But while discretionary sale