Irish Retailers Fight Investors Over Rents After Economy Sinks

Irish retailers are taking on real estate investors as the country’s economic collapse hollows out shopping streets and malls.

As spending on everything from flat-screen televisions to mobile phones falls, storeowners are pushing the government to abolish contracts that provide only for rent increases and not decreases. Investors say the proposals have frozen the market, deepening the worst real-estate crisis in western Europe.