Reply #7: If the real estate owners are rational it is not greed that

[exboyfil]

is fueling their demands, but perhaps it is the debt on construction that needs to be serviced. Also, if you are a mall or other store front (like any other business) it is dangerous to have different prices for different customers - eventually everyone demands the lower price. If you are not renting space, then your business model is seriously flawed - but it is not about greed. Maybe they should be renegotiating to keep tenants (on a short term basis perhaps crediting back a portion of the rent in an attempt to maintain the price structure).

We are losing a bunch of stores out of our local mall (it is turning into a ghost town). I think it is the underlying debt that was incurred when the mall was bought out a while ago that is driving it into the ground. The business model no longer works. The mall owner needs to declare bankruptcy in my opinion. Unfortunately in this case our city has the kooky idea to rebate back a portion of the local option sales tax to the mall to keep it open (think about this - taxes that come from a competitor are going to be paid to keep the mall open - seems really strange to me, and, if I was a retailer outside the mall, I would be hopping mad).