Although sales from the tech giant's 400-plus retail stores only contributed a fraction of its $183 billion in revenue last year, its locations can raise sales at the malls where these stores are located by 10 percent, according to The Wall Street Journal .

Citing data from Green Street Advisors, the publication reported Tuesday that the draw of Apple stores not only allows the iPhone maker to negotiate low-rent deals for itself, but drives rents higher for neighboring stores. Whereas a typical mall tenant can pay rent up to 15 percent of its sales per square foot, Apple pays 2 percent of this metric, tops, industry executives told the paper.



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Apple declined to comment on rent to the Journal, though spokesman Nick Leahy did say that its stores draw about 1 million shoppers each day.

The popularity of Apple stores underscores a growing trend in the retail industry, where the large department stores—or "anchor" tenants—are no longer the catalysts they once were.

Although these megastores used to bear the primary burden of pulling consumers into the mall—giving them lower rent costs, to boot—industry experts have noted that as consumers do more research ahead of their shopping trips, they're less likely to influence someone's decision over where to shop.