Nellie Day is a contributor to Real Estate Southern California, from which this article was excerpted.

Whether it's the mom-and-pop store on the corner lot or the Super Wal-Mart off the freeway whose square footage rivals Disneyland, one crucial ability that retailers must fine tune in today's market is how to properly and skillfully negotiate their leases. This is because, like it or not, most of Southern California is still boasting a landlord market; and with such limited available land and space the option to buy is, for many, just not an option.

"The [retail] market is very hot, especially in downtowns like San Diego," says Corinna Gattasso, associate vice president of San Diego-based Burnham Real Estate Development's Urban Retail Group. "I have many tenants competing over space. I also have tenants that have entered our market in the past several years that are the only ones in their niche in the entire city to do so."

Fueled by the booming housing market, one would think retailers would have the pick of the litter when it came to spaces, as so many new residents meant more shopping centers, more opportunities for expansion and more retail choices. This was not, however, the situation that many retailers faced when negotiating leases over the past year. Some Southern California staples, such as Ralphs and Starbucks, had enough pull and staying power that, to them, leases boiled down to two points: demand and expand.