It might even that they are planning to put those owners that they are renting from into so much financial trouble that they could buy up properties at a discount.
I don't have much sympathy for property speculators etc., however I have even less sympathy for big corporations abusing systems not meant for the to concentrate even more wealth onto themselves
The landlords of these shops don't have any incentive to throw these merchants out because of a few months of missing rent during a time in which most retailers are forced to close. Where should they find any alternative tenants for these properties? Nobody could even move in right now, much less sell anything there. The first time at which they could potentially find someone to market these properties to is when the restrictions on the already-existing tenants are most likely being lifted as well, which means they will start paying rent again.
The only risk for the merchants is that the landlords might take them to court in order to make them pay the missing rent. But that is a rather calculable risk, these big merchants all have legal departments able to handle this risk, and even in the worst case (they are made to pay the full sum) these court decisions will take months until they come into effect, so the primary goal of conserving liquidity during the forced business shutdown time has already been achieved.
Imagine that in places in Czechia and Poland where I was renting long term, the landlords were returning the full deposit in cash, in exchange for the apartment keys.