My question involves business law in the state of: California

My husband and I own several beauty salon/supply stores. Our newest one has never made a profit since day one and we are losing money monthly to keep it going. Our lease is for 10 years and we have 6 to go. Our rent is an outrageous $10,460 for a 2800 SF space that is located on the busiest intersection in town and faces 400 apartments. We thought we had it made at this location, but have been proven very wrong with our monthly loss around $5000 each month. One of the main problems is that the back of our store faces the street and we are not very visible, so gaining new customers has been hard.

We have appealed to the landlord to reduce our rent. First he said pay what you can, so we've paid $5500 a month since January, but he is accumulating the remainder of rent owed, which is about $50,000. He knows we've had our store on the market for one year at a ridiculously low price of $20,000 plus inventory but nobody will even make an offer because the rent is so outrageously high. The store is worth at least $300,000 with the inventory.

Then I sent him a letter that we cannot go on like this until the end of lease because we have no way of paying him the back rent since we are losing so much monthly. So he said send a letter with our proposal and reports supporting our request and he would send it to his bank to see what they could do (I guess to renegotiate his loan). But he said don't expect an answer too soon as these things take time. It sounds like he's stringing us along and really doesn't want to help. Two of the stores in his 4-store complex are empty and he hasn't been able to rent them out.

We are incorporated but have a personal guarantee on the lease. I'm wondering if we stop paying rent to try to force him to negotiate with us, can he lock us out or take possession of our property at this address?

Last year he threatened to go after our other stores and after us personally if we did not continue to pay the rent. We've gone to lawyers who say with the personal guarantee the only way out is to file business and personal bankruptcy, but our personal finances are fine. This one particular store is killing our entire business. If by not paying the rent, we're hoping the landlord will take us to court and maybe the judge will rule that he needs to renegotiate our lease because of the economy.

Is there any solution to this problem? I know my post is lengthy, but I would really appreciate a meaninful response. We're at the end of the rope. Thanks