EDITORIAL: Find merchants a cheaper space

The new Wharton building is a needed addition to the University, but the retail currently at the location also provides a service to the Penn community. While the University has offered relocation sites to store owners, administrators should not charge them twice the rent. Since Penn owns most of the retail space surrounding campus, merchants don't have many other landlords it can look to for lower prices on retail space -- so badly that it can't cut the stores a deal to keep them around. Administrators could cut the rent prices to make the proposed retail spaces an affordable option for store owners. It is not as if the University needs the extra income from retail space. The University developed plans for Sansom Common and the Shops at 3401 Walnut to bring more retail to campus for students. But by not providing feasible alternatives for merchants currently located on the new Wharton building site, the University is taking away the kind of retail students need. There are stores on that retail strip that students, staff and faculty use and like. The Classical Choice is an excellent classical, jazz and used compact disc store and STA Travel is the only travel agency close to campus. Also, professors often prefer the Penn Book Center over The Book Store to order course materials. Some of these retailers have been part of the University community for over 30 years. And it would be a shame to lose quality stores from the University City area just because the stores can't find new, inexpensive homes.