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From YouTube: BizLaunch BusinessTip: Short-term Leasing Programs
Description
From Arlington VA's Dept. of Economic Development and BizLaunch, Another Business Tip. This webisode looks at short-term leases with with Suzette Timme, General Manager, Fashion Center at Pentagon City. Your host is Tara Palacios.
A
Hi
I'm
Tara
miles
with
the
retail
tip
for
you
today,
we're
here
at
the
Fashion
Center
pentagon
city
and
a
lot
of
times.
Small
business
or
small
retail
owners
find
it
difficult
to
find
affordable
retail
space.
I'm
going
to
be
talking
today
to
Suzette
Timmy,
who
is
a
general
manager
here
at
the
Fashion
Center
I,
know,
I
work
with
a
lot
of
small
businesses
and
some
of
the
questions
that
they
have
is
that
was
a
new
business
owner.
Are
they
able
to
get
their
foot
in
the
door
to
be
able
to
shop
their
retail
process.
B
Well,
Tara,
one
of
the
best
opportunities
is
through
a
mall
or
shopping
center
short
term
leasing
program.
It's
really
quite
a
simple
process
of
you.
Don't
need
a
formal
business
plan.
You
just
need
an
innovative
or
creative
retail
concepts.
The
application
process
is
quite
simple.
You
would
want
to
have
products
that
you
can
sample
and
maybe
prove
some
prior
business
experience,
but
it's
not
always
necessary.
There's
really
very
little
that
you
have
to
do
up
front.
B
You'll
have
to
have
insurance
for
your
business,
a
County
business
permit
to
operate,
ok,
a
secure
deposit
and
in
most
cases
of
first
month's
rent
in
advance.
Ok,
but
it's
really
very
simple.
At
mini-malls
across
the
country,
and
especially
here
at
Fashion
Center,
we
have
examples
of
retailers
who
have
come
into
a
short-term
leasing
program,
either
through
a
cart
or
a
kiosk
and
they
incubate
their
business,
meaning
that
they
sample
their
products
they're
very
successful.
B
B
Lease,
certainly
in
the
short
term,
lease
the
most
important
difference
is
that
the
period
of
time
that
you
operate
is
negotiable.
In
most
cases,
they
are
on
a
30-day
month
of
month
basis.
They
can
be
signed
up
for
a
year's
term.
Okay
and
assuming
that
the
tenant
or
the
merchants
is
in
good
standing
with
the
landlord.
Then
most
landlords
would
want
to
renew
that
short
term
lease
for
the
same
period
of
time.
For
example,
here
we
have
merchants
who've
owned
their
businesses
on
short
term
one
year
leases
for
greater
than
eight
years.
What's.
B
Other
thing
that
is
important
to
know
is
that
there
is
something
and
most
retail
leases,
but
especially
in
the
short-term
program
known
as
percentage
rents
and
with
percentage
rent.
We
look
at
that
as
really
being
a
true
partner
with
our
merchants,
so
the
short
term
tenants
when
their
leases
are
structured,
so
that
once
they
make
a
certain
amount
of
sales,
assuming
that
they're
going
to
be
hugely
successful,
then
the
landlords
will
actually
get
a
small
percentage
of
their
profits.
So
something
to
keep
in
mind.
You
obviously
want
to
perform
at
a
really
high.