A HILTON hairdresser says after battling for a year to run a business against the odds at an empty shopping centre, he’s been unfairly turfed out.

Expertease owner Jian Li signed up to move into the old Hilton Fresh shops early last year, just weeks before the grocer moved out. He says he was never told about the move and suddenly found himself having to pay rent in a shopping centre which had turned into a ghost complex.

He did up his salon and built up a base of almost 600 customers, only to have supermarket giant Aldi look at redeveloping the shops without the few small businesses that had hung in.

With other locals he saw off the threat, and the complex was sold and Gilbert’s Fresh moved back in, restoring the foot traffic — although Mr Li had to suffer six months of renovations across the mall.

• Expertease Hair’s Jian Li in his salon. Photo by Trilokesh Chanmugam

Bigger cafe

Just as things are starting to look up, Mr Li has been told he’s got a month to get out so the new owners can put a bigger cafe in the complex.

He says after the investment and lean months, he’s been financially crippled and doesn’t know how he can afford to relocate.

“I borrowed money from friends, I sold my car, all the money was to pay the rent. Even now I don’t take a wage. I just pay bills,” Mr Li told the Herald.

He’s selling the last of his hair supplies at half-price just to pay plumbers and electricians to restore the shop to the same condition as when he moved in.

Hilton resident Sue Foster described the situation as heartbreaking.

“It is just so bad how this poor man from our community has been treated.

“He is a gentle, good man and a truly marvellous hairdresser.

“I know one of his clients has sent an outraged letter to the landlord.

Mr Li plans hopes he’ll be able to scrape enough money together to move nearby, hoping to retain his clientele.

This time, he wants a permanent location: “I’m 51, getting for a hairdresser a little bit older. I don’t want to move,” he says. “I just want one shop until I’m retired.”

Rhys Kelly, a director of Qube property group which owns the plaza, says they’re doing a full refurbishment of the building’s western side. The new layout will accommodate cafes, a bakery and a liquor store.

by TRILOKESH CHANMUGAM