[darth_avocado]

Lack of cheap real estate is the root of all problems. Some will point to private equity buying up everything and ruining (baseball, bowling etc.). If you had cheap real estate, you can still operate a business and compete, but once your landlord raises rent every year regardless of how your business is doing, even the successful ones have to pack their bags. So many successful businesses in my city and the neighboring cities have shut down simply because “they couldn’t come to a mutual agreement on the lease with the landlord”.

[prawn]

I used to think you wanted to own the premises you operated out of, but you're probably just better off leasing it out and getting paid whether the business had a tough month or not.

[rightbyte]

And why operate a franchise yourself when you can just own stock.

I believe the social feedback is what have gotten so bad. Too much bog corps and remote landlords to care.