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Stores Pop Up Empty Rent Shopping Economy Business Property

Id ESLPod_0158_CN
Episode Id ESLPod 158
Episode Title Shopping with My Wife
Title Pop-up Stores
Text

When the economy is bad for the average business, it can mean opportunities for a small number of other ones. "Such is the case" (that is the case; that is the situation) for "commercial property owners" (those who own buildings that are rented to businesses) in some "recessions" (bad economic times). Many shopping centers have empty spaces because so many stores have "gone out of business" (closed down). Property owners are therefore looking for ways to make money, and have discovered that they can rent these spaces for short periods of time to seasonal business. A "seasonal business" is one that can only survive certain times during the year.

For example, October 31st each year is Halloween in the United States. Many parents want to buy "costumes" (clothes worn by actors or children pretending to be someone else) for their children. Stores can only really sell these costumes during the few weeks before Halloween; afterwards, no one will want to buy them until next year. Selling Halloween costumes is therefore called a seasonal business, because a costume store would want to rent a "retail" (shop) space at a "mall" (a place with many stores) only for a short amount of time.

These short-term stores are now being called "pop-up stores". "To pop up" means to appear suddenly. Many holiday stores, mostly for Christmas and Hanukkah in December, are now "popping up" at mall stores that were empty a few months ago, and that will be empty again in January, when the pop-up stores close. One of the most popular pop-up stores this fall is Toys "R" Us, a large company that sells toys and games for children.

It isn't clear if these pop-up stores will continue to exist after the U.S. economy "recovers" (gets better, healthier), since retail mall owners prefer that their "tenants" (people or companies renting from them) have "leases" (contracts agreeing to rent a space) longer than just a month or two.

Topics Clothing + Grooming

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