Gap store. Photo: Alex Millauer/Shutterstock.com
A New York commercial landlord has sued The Gap Inc. in Manhattan federal court over the San Francisco-based retailer's failure to pay rent on its Midtown retail space during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In a complaint filed Monday in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, 48th Americas LLC said that Gap owed two monthly payments of $264,190, plus an additional $1,170 in snow removal charges for the commercial property it was renting at 1212 Avenue of the Americas.
The suit, which alleged breaches of 2015 lease extension, seeks money damages and at least $20,000 in attorney fees for bringing the action.
The filing comes as retailers are under the increasing financial stress of the pandemic's economic fallout. Specialty clothing company J. Crew Group Inc. earlier this week filed for Chapter 11 protection after it was forced to shutter 500 retail stores worldwide due to widespread restrictions meant to stop the spread of the novel coronavirus.
Other retailers, such as J.C. Penney, Neiman Marcus and Lord & Taylor, are considering taking similar action, according to media reports.
Gap, which is headquartered in the San Francisco Bay Area, has furloughed roughly 80,000 store employees during the crisis and cut executive pay, according to media reports. The company said Wednesday that it plans to reopen 800 stores this month, as some states allow certain businesses to resume operations.
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Tom McParland
Tom McParland of New York Law Journal can be contacted at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @TMcParlandALM.
