Large stores such as Sears or K-Mart are referred to as “anchors” because they draw business into a shopping center, and that business provides traffic to the other smaller businesses which share the building. Sears recently announced that it will be closing 79 stores across the country, leaving many small business owners in those shopping centers wondering what will happen to them. Fortunately, none of these closings are in Illinois. But shopping centers throughout Illinois and the nation are losing their anchors, with devastating effect on the remaining stores. We all know what happens when a ship loses its anchor. What can you do to keep your small business from drifting away if your shopping center loses its anchor?

The first question you need to ask is whether the anchor in your shopping center has a “go dark provision” in their lease. Large anchor stores will often close a location, but continue to pay the lease because doing so is cheaper than breaching the lease. They are at least saving the cost of operating the store, keeping the lights on, and paying employees. This is referred to as “going dark” and can devastate the neighboring stores. A go-dark provision would require an anchor tenant to continue to operate through the end of their lease to prevent the loss of traffic to the remaining stores.

When negotiating your lease, you should ask whether the anchor tenant has a go-dark provision in their lease. When deciding between several locations for your business, you should consider the significant value you get in exchange for a shopping center that requires their anchor to continue operating. This is a very valuable tool in keeping your business alive in tough economic times. If you are already in a shopping center lease, you should ask anyway. Whether the anchor tenant has a go dark provision will be a significant factor in deciding whether to exercise an option to renew or extend your current lease. If not, it might be time to start considering other locations as your lease nears expiration.

You should also understand your rights in the event an anchor tenant does go dark. Go-dark provisions are not the perfect cure. Even if the lease requires the anchor tenant to continue operating, that anchor tenant can break their lease just like Borders Books did last year. If the anchor is going into bankruptcy anyway, it will not bother them that they are violating their go-dark provisions. When entering into or renewing your lease, you should attempt to negotiate rent abatements or other concessions in the event the anchor tenant goes dark. Or ask that the loss of an anchor be grounds for you to terminate your own lease. The landlord may refuse these requests, but there is certainly no harm in asking for them. In today’s commercial real estate market, some landlords are willing to be aggressive and may provide concessions just like these.

A common mistake of commercial tenants is focusing only on their own lease during negotiations and attorney review. If your business is going to depend on a strong anchor in your shopping center, you should be sure to understand the go dark provisions of that anchor tenant’s lease, as well as your rights in any go dark scenario.