Businesses closure reasons run the gamut, and are often a combination of factors, but it is stated in the article that this branch was shuttered as part of a consolidation and shift in corporate priorities. Seems plausible. I suppose if the rent was significantly lower they may have developed another business plan. However, demand is what it is. But, I for one do not believe the recovery economy is playing out equally everywhere, and clearly the tax/ financial incentives must be there for landlords to leave store fronts empty for years on end, considering empty storefronts are so plentiful. If that wasn't the case, certainly rents would quickly adjust downward to stimulate demand. It certainly isn't for a want of walk-by traffic by persons with (albeit less so than five years back) disposable income. To your point, rents are at a price-point where start-ups and mom and pops are being squeezed out by established chains who can do the market research in advance and can absorb and will not be quickly crushed by a minor miscalculation of the market at such a comparatively high price per square foot. IMO the funky boutique "up and coming area cosmopolitan feel" so many of us moved here to be around got priced out of here years ago, have recently been gentrified out of Montclair and Red Bank in turn, and are now in an up-and-coming small town in lower New York state that time forgot until recently. Such is evolution: as Tennessee Williams called it "the tragedy of success".