Getting news is becoming increasingly difficult for a number of reasons:

1. there is too much information around and thus too much news
2. news and information need to generate money in order to create it - so we got to pay for it
3. there are too many sources producing or rather paddling news and information along - we need to filter out the 121st version of that news about the new electronic monkey sitting at the entrance of that flagship store in Knightsbridge.
4. see 1.
5. see 4.
6. okay, enough.

What we need to know is this:

1. How to get to the news we really need?
2. How to get to that news without paying a fortune?

Chanel pays record fee for Bond Street store - Luxury brand Chanel has paid a record sum to secure Bond Street premises for a UK flagship store. [Retail Week - Retail Property and Shopping Centres]

How much are they paying?

Well, if you want a quick answer you can subscribe to any of the many news agencies to read the whole story. Is it worth it for one article. No, how often do you use these subscriptions?

We got so used to getting it all free on the internet. But for the newspapers this is not a sustainable business model. Cynics will say newspapers (and magazines) only came into existence to sell advertising. Some serious publications will dispute this but when you look at the books you will find the answer: "The money is coming from the ads."

This is a constant headache for any centre manager.

How does one distribute the charges for the upkeep and running of the shopping centre fairly?

How much do we charge a tenant for the removal of the waste (rubbish, garbage)? Can we easily charge just what this tenant's shop is responsible for?

How can we calculate how much this shop creates. What about restaurants, fast-food versus sit-down?

Once you start to think about this the list gets longer and longer.

Quite often I discuss rents with retailers. They ask me because I work across many states and there seems to be little real information out there.

Shouldn't there be a database of rents available somewhere? I have seen this done for salaries on some Job websites. They collect your salary details and job description anonymously. Later you can go back and check what people in your field earn.

As always there are interested groups who wouldn't like this being published and then there are those desperate for this kind of information.