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Expert Insight: How Retailers Should Communicate with Landlords Amid COVID-19

Chain Store Age

By: Manuel Fishman

“Chain store retailers are a diverse group and cross product lines – food, furniture, apparel, eyewear, entertainment, in line, end cap and interior mall access and direct access. In all cases center owners need retailers to be open to generate revenue for the center and to attract consumers, and for them to continue business operations. In a pandemic the chain is broken.

Retailers need to emphasize that and explain in direct terms the disruptive and material impact state and local “shelter in place” proclamations are having on the unwritten partnership that exists between owner and retailer. With national retailers closing in response to governmental orders and – in some cases – because owners are closing their centers for the safety of employees and consumers, every chain retailer needs to proactively communicate with their landlords and stake their position that everyone in the chain needs to participate in successfully repairing the break in the chain and planning for when a “new normal” is established.”

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