Small stores face uphill battle getting into malls

From today's Report on Business

TENILLE BONOGUORE
From Wednesday's Globe and Mail

Big-name "anchor tenants" at Canada's shopping malls are increasingly using their market clout to keep small businesses and other competitors off their linoleum turf.

Restrictive covenants banning everything from rival delicatessens to muffin stores have been included in big-chain lease agreements for decades as a way to ensure a desirable retail mix. But entrepreneurs and lawyers are reporting that in recent years major tenants are using them to tighten their stranglehold on malls.

"There is a chilling effect that goes on when these covenants exist," said James Morton, a prominent commercial lawyer and former president of the Ontario Bar Association.