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I don’t think anyone is blaming anyone else here. I certainly don’t think Borders problems came from UORW but the subject came up and, with respect, your attitude towards the reality of a property negotiation seemed a little smug to me. You can do as much research as you like, in the end success and failure can still be down to circumstances beyond your control. You could equally say that a landlord that has property in a ‘bad’ location should have done his or her research, rather that try to shift the problem onto a hapless retailer, as I’ve seen happen many times.

"does the retailer then go back to the landlord and say " I’d like to pay more rent please because its successful"

In a word YES. Like I said, it works both ways. But up to now landlords have only ever wanted to share in the good times (turnover rent +guaranteed base rent). If they shared in some of the pain when things go bad as well that would be a true partnership approach and would smooth out the regular boom an bust cycles in commercial property relationships.

I agree that some landlords are being helpful right now out of pragmatism and that’s to be applauded. I just think we'd all be better off if that sort of partnership formula was enshrined in contract rather than on the whim of a property manager who holds all the cards.