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Maybe we should consider petitions to help with landlord challenges

Reading the story about the rent challenges facing independent book retailer St Mark’s Bookshop in New York made we wonder whether we should try their approach of having customers sign a petition of support.

While major landlords the world over have shown a reluctance to listen to anything, a petition may help in our situation should the rent dispute get to a tribunal or some other independent arbitrator.

Key to St Mark’s getting signatures is their well established tradition.  This comes down to the value their shoppers see in the business remaining.  I have shopped at St Mark’s.  It’s certainly a different, more personal and more enlightening experience than shopping for books at one of the big-barn corporate bookshops.

We need to ask is whether our customers would feel strongly enough about our newsagency businesses to sign a petition of support for us. If not then we need to think about what we can do to make our businesses that valuable in the eyes of our customers that they would sign a petition for us.

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  1. heleng

    I dont understand why you think landlords should offer newsagents,or anyone else freebies or reductions in existing and continuing leases,if you sign and commit to a lease you do so in good faith,knowing all the terms and associated risks, if you make a bad decision to do so why should they “insure” you against your own stupidity or ignorance…i cant see why they should do this on any level.
    i have 3 leases,2 ok one not so ok but we agreed to it and have factored in contingincies to deal with it it it gets worse.I just dont get why you think landlords need to be charities to their tennants

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  2. Chris

    What if the bad decisions are made by landlords, eg allowing vacant shops. Why arent they then accountable for the impact their decisions have on other tenants

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  3. heleng

    Chris no lease ive ever signed guaranteed that the centre i was in would have any certain occupancy levels,that to me is just a risk assoc with renting in a centre that needs to be factored in when considering a purchase ,you look at qality of centre and quality of mgt
    What about a strip lease when a bank or major service pulls out,who compensates those retailers for the drop in trade after that,noone cause its just a fact of business… things constantly change and thats the risk of any business i believe

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