Q: There’s a small florist shop that I am looking to buy. It’s located in a mall, been around for ten years and seems to be doing well. They get a lot of passer by traffic (it’s a busy center because of the large retailer there who is rumored to be going bankrupt)…any suggestions what I should look for?

A: Yes! This is a very common issue and the answer is simple – until such time as the big retailer closes, there is no way of knowing how the business will be impacted. if your research dictates that the business for sale is heavily reliant on this anchor store for its business, you have to wait it out.

One thing you can do is call the Property Management company for the mall, tell them you’re looking to open a major retail location (tell them you cannot divulge specifics) but you’d like to know if there’s any chance that you can get the big retailer’s spot.

They may very well tell you that either that store will be leaving or that they have another 10 years on their lease, or they’ve renewed or several other possibilities but clearly it will give you tremendous insight into the situation.