it fits. >> good afternoon, kimco realty. may i help you? >> susie: today, kimco is a far cry from the company that milton cooper and martin kimmel started a half-century ago. it's now the largest owner of neighborhood shopping centers in the world. with over 900 in 42 states, you probably shop at them. kimco has also expanded outside the u.s., running strip centers in five other countries. >> we followed some of our tenants. and walmart is aggressively expanding in mexico. so is home depot, best buy. and we felt that we had properties in mexico, relationships in mexico. so, it was a natural consequence. similarly, we liked canada-- cap rates were higher than the united states and interest rates were lower. >> susie: and these days, kimco's activities aren't confined to shopping centers. that's the result of a ground- breaking law signed by president clinton in 1999, the reit modernization act. >> well, until the reit modernization act, there were strictures on what a reit could do. it could not develop and sell, it had to limit itself to cer