Legal Question in Business Law in California

It's not unusual at all for tenants in the same mall or shopping center to have restrictions in their leases that prohibit the tenants from competing directly with one another. However, there is nothinh automatic about this. No restriction in your lease means you can sell whatever you want in competition with other tenants. No restriction in their lease means they can sell whatever they want in competition with you.

Sometimes the restrictions on competition are set up a little differently; for example, the mall may give you a lease promising that you'll be the only restaurant, or the only pizzeria, or something like that.

In any case, the right to be free from competition from another tenant in the same development will be the result of something in your lease, or the other guy's, and not from something in a book of laws. The law itseld favors competition.

As a Franchise Attorney I entirely agree. The law favors free and unfettered competition. Unless there is something specific in your lease with the plaza that deals with this, you will just have to compete. Consult with a good business or franchise attorney in your area for specific advice.

Mr. Franchise - Kevin B. Murphy, B.S., M.B.A., J.D.

Franchise Foundations, a Professional Corporation