First off, The villages has expanded continuously for about 30 years so of course there's got to be some empty stores until somebody comes in. But I do know personally of retailers I do know what they pay in base rent and as a percentages. Which of course is crazy for Florida but not compared to New York on any main thoroughfare in the city. However what is crazy is someone being a nut and trying to open up a restaurant which has about a 90% failure rate in the US. And what most don't understand about the villages is that for four to six months out of the year you have 50% less potential customers and that is where many places fail in their business plan and not being able to cover what's called the "nut" . Same goes for Leesburg downtown restaurants that have failed continuously for 20 plus years. And yet some do survive and provide decent service and good food, but I have never seen the trifecta of failure of inflation, lack of workers, and people not wanting to come to your place due to covid and lack of insights outside seating space. And yet the lemmings continue to go sit next to each other with the possibilities of infection and lack of masks. Yes we do go out but I've always tried to sit against the wall and away from people but as I've said elsewhere my cooking is much better than most restaurants for many things that I can do. Stay safe and be well to all
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