It seemed as though Aéropostale was done and done. Bankrupt, having a hard time coming up with a solid plan, it seemed as though the chain was headed for liquidation. But a funny thing happened on the way to Hilco Capital (or whichever liquidator was waiting in the wings).

First, at the end of August, the company came up with a plan via auction to save 229 of its stores. A consortium of Authentic Brands, and mall owners Simon Properties and General Growth Properties came up with the capital and improved rent structures to keep those stores open. By September 19, other mall operators had chipped in, and like magic, an additional 171 stores were saved from closing, bringing the remaining store count to 400. For those keeping score, 12,300 jobs were also saved in the process.

I have been around retail a very long time and can’t remember this ever happening before. So what are these players thinking?

Let’s start with the retailer Authentic Brands Group. I have seen “bottom fishers ” before. These are retail management companies who buy up distressed retailers with solid names and hope they can turn sows’ ears back into silk purses. It appears Authentic Brands is like this, with some very strong brands in its stable. It owns once famous names like Tretorn (my generation’s go-to casual sneakers), Hart Schaffner Marx (which begat Hartmarx and fell to earth in the early 90’s), Juicy Couture, Hickey Freeman, Prince and others from the world of apparel and sporting goods.

Some of these roll-ups generate real profits to shareholders, and certainly the brands owned by Authentic have a certain cache. Others like J Baker before it do well for a while and then the recognition that it really was a collection of old brands returns to both shareholders and shoppers, and the company fades into quiet oblivion. But again, I’ve seen it before. Some work, some don’t.

But to get multiple mall operators with skin in the game is a pretty new story, at least in my memory, and it begs the question: Why?

The answer is pretty simple, really. Malls are becoming a sea of sameness. Stores continue to close or chains consolidate, and otherwise they look pretty much the same. You can’t quite depend on anchor stores like Macy’s to drive traffic anymore, and while the Apple store is helpful, it’s not a home run. So it’s in these operators’ best interest to have as much diversity as possible to fill up their spaces. After all, a full-time lower rent store is better for the operator than an 8-week Halloween pop-up store in any mall, anywhere!

I have a friend who used to run a small chain of high end plus-sized specialty stores. She’d go to the annual International Council of Shopping Center (ICSC) conference, and mall operators would be literally begging her to open in their centers. Why? Her stuff was different, and they had space to fill.

Industry publication Commercial Property Executive pondered if this might be a template for the future: mall owners buying out distressed retailers in exchange for a piece of the action. Technically speaking, this isn’t completely out of the air. Anyone who has ever written a retailer mall contract is aware of the concept “percentage rent, ” which means the retailer pays a percentage of its sales to the mall operator. In effect, the retailer pays the mall operator for driving traffic to its store, and rewards the mall operator accordingly. This is a bit different, for sure. The mall operator has real skin in the game. Yet it will still share in the retailer rewards.

I expect as department stores continue their decline, mall operators will look for new creative ways to keep doors open and traffic flowing. After all, there are only so many food courts you can place in a mall to generate buzz.

In other words, this one is worth watching. Assuming the new rent structure gives Aéropostale a chance to build its bottom line while merchants create a new and compelling merchandising message, it could well be a template for mall operators and distressed retailers. Something has to give. Maybe this is it.