Breaking legs or kicking you out of a mall retail space if you don't pay protection money is the same difference to me.
There should be a set lease rate and set rate for utilities, security services etc.. Expecting a percentage of sales is extortion to me.
You obviously don't understand *why* profit-sharing is part of many (most?) small business leases. The base rental rate is usually only slightly over what the maintenance and upkeep costs for the space with a tenant in place. There's enough for the mall/whatever to keep the shop and surrounding 'public space' in good upkeep and handle the seasonal decorations and such. They do this to attract businesses to the space, because a mall full of shops is much more attractive to shoppers than a mall with a bunch of empty store fronts.
Apple, as a renter falls into three categories which help them get better lease rates.
1) They're a known entity, and they're interested in long-term leases. You know they're going to be around long-term. This means less costs to renovate the space for new customers.
2) They're interested in *large* spaces. This means you don't have the added overhead of dealing with 20 businesses in the same space. They also have predictable sales, which means they can budget for the space they need without having to resort to profit-sharing arrangements.
3) They're viewed as a high-end retailer by the public at large. Simply having them in a location makes the location more attractive for shoppers. This also helps the space attract *more* high-end shops, many of which have lower volume, less predictable sales rates, leading to better (for the mall) profit-sharing arrangements with *their* leases.
These three factors, along with others, mean that Apple is capable of getting good deals on it's leases simply because solid, predictable income is better than astounding, but unpredictable income associated with large, unpredictable expenses.
The small food shop mentioned in the article has none of those advantages. And to top it off, they have expenses for their space that Apple doesn't. Extra power (or gas?) requirements for a restaurant, possibly requiring extra plumbing for lavatories depending on the details of the space, the overhead of health inspections that the mall has to deal with, etc.