Hollister City Council voted to halt the issuance or re-issuance of tobacco retail licenses.

Since tobacco retail licenses are usually applied for in November and issued in January, local pharmacies will have six to seven months to take all tobacco products off their shelves.

“Regardless of the outcome, the drama is illuminating the often uneasy balance of power between big landlords and the retailers that fill their malls.”

Looking at this from Simon Property Group’s perspective, they should be very worried about their upcoming business license challenges. We would recommend that they monitor their renters very closely, because they will assume (at least) partial responsibility every time one of the retailers that fills their malls gets caught without proper licenses.