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Comment by hahajk | Hacker News Reader

“his new landlord told him that the store’s monthly costs—rent, taxes, insurance, and maintenance—would go up an impossible 150 percent, to $5,000 a month.”

I’ve never owned or rented commercial real estate so I guess I never knew how much things cost. $2k seems cheap? I would have expected a storefront in a hip Montreal neighborhood to be much more.

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Rents in Montreal are historically cheaper than other major metros (in Canada). I am currently looking for commercial space in Toronto and despite lots of empty spaces, rates remain high.

Louis Rossmann's video series about his search for a new location in NYC may have a lot of relevant lessons even in a different city.

That neighborhood is hip _because_ rent is cheap

it won't be a hip neighborhood much longer if only global chain stores can afford the rent

What do the global chain stores do differently that they can justify the rent against the store revenue?

Scale in distribution, especially marketing / brand / name recognition

Large co's play different games than mom & pop. They can afford some near-term losses if they can make the case it prevents competitors from gaining a foothold. Banks can justify rent on a seemingly empty branch in an expensive retail area if it supports catchment area of desirable clients that visit in person once every 18 months. Etc.

I think people just like chain stores better. Plus they can take advantage of bulk buying for materials, services, advertising, etc.

It could simply be brand recognition. Visitors to a city will know which chain stores to visit to get what they need, glossing over (or avoiding) unfamiliar stores.

So mom&pop stores get local customers, while chain stores get local PLUS just-visiting customers; multiply by months and years.

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