Mall REIT juggernaut Simon Property Group (“SPG”) and General Growth Properties (“GGP”) called an audible last week in a last ditch effort to save bankrupt retailer Aéropostale from liquidation. A group ostensibly led by SPG and GGP successfully bid $243.3 million at auction, beating a credit-bid of $150 million where the most likely outcome was the shuttering of the roughly 800 remaining Aéropostale stores. Rather, the winning group intends to keep at least 229 Aéropostale stores open and operating, an unexpected end to the rollercoaster ride Aéropostale took interested parties on starting with its voluntary Chapter 11 (reorganization) filing in May followed by comments that “reorganization on a standalone basis is not feasible” in July and plans to hold an