I too live in a commonwealth country, so expect there are laws and customs that will be shared.
One of which is the building owner can restrict the trade hours of a company leasing their place. Probably the biggest concern in a small mall is going to be the security of the whole place and then that of the individual stores that may be closed while one is open. So the fellow complaining his store may not be able to open certain hours may be facing a problem that is not of his stores making. Perhaps the rent here is cheap, or it is accross the road from a school and does better wekday trading than weekend trading.
Perhaps a better idea would be to look around at various bars and clubs and see if they would give you a 12 period in a room once a month for games. Many years ago we played at the club on an army base, they only required that we buy food and drink at the bar.