I understand,you did not get the jist of it.

1996 you could buy property cheap in downtown,if one is going to risk opening a business why not go all out and lease purchase or try to be creative in a purchase,it does not take anymore money and it gives far more security then 180 day clavate in the lease.

If you are opening a business and sign a lease with a 180 day clause you need to be thinking really hard about a time and money investment,totally irrelevant that they have hung in there,commendable yes.

It is not reinventing the wheel,in depressed areas you can rent space cheaply compared to other areas and maybe have opportunities that you may have never had based strictly on the economic situation at the time.

They had a good run and seemed to fill a need and hopefully will be able to continue in a more stable situation,if what replaces them does not work then it will fail and something else will take its place.

That will be the sad downside of the city progression,opportunities that were advailable before to the adverage person will fade away with progress and rents will increase.

No point in being anti chain,I do not prefer chains and do not frequent them,but they come in with deep pockets,not much you can really do.

There are a number of smaller cities and towns that are actually placeing restrictions on chains across the board,that would be my preference but kinda hard to implement in a large city.