The winners of the bankruptcy auction for teen clothing retailer Aeropostale weren’t a competing clothing chain or another retailer hoping to get into the teen clothing biz: it was a joint venture by mall landlords, who apparently didn’t want to face another hole in their shopping centers left by a bankrupt retailer.

Two leaders of the group that won the auction were Simon Property Group and General Growth Properties, companies that probably own at least one of the malls near you.

The Wall Street Journal explains that 260 Aeropostale stores are in Simon malls, and General Growth Properties has 77 of them. That’s a lot of empty stores to fill.

Yet the retail clothing business isn’t doing that great now, which is why it looked likely that the retailer formerly known as Aeropostale was heading into the familiar territory of liquidation and empty stores.

This is the first time that the two mall firms have moved into the actual retail business, and they haven’t yet said what their strategy for Aeropostale will be, other than to keep as many stores open as they’re able.

Mall Owners Go on Defensive to Rescue Aéropostale [Wall Street Journal]

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