A clothing company is suing Disney, claiming the company isn’t making enough money during the pandemic and wants to kick it out of Disney Springs retail stores.
British brand Super Dry A lack of international tourists returning to Orlando has slowed sales, prompting Disney’s landlords to announce early termination of the store’s lease in October.
“A representative of the landlord will be in contact with you to discuss an orderly termination of business and eviction of the property,” Disney said in an Oct. 28 letter included in court documents.
The lease was due to end around Monday, according to the lawsuit, but a Superdry manager who answered the phone on Thursday said the store was still open.
“We are currently in negotiations to renew the lease,” said the manager, who declined to give her name and appeared unfamiliar with the lawsuit. We are collaborating with
Lawyers for Superdry and Disney have not yet reached out for comment.
This is the latest lawsuit from the pandemic in Orlando, where the tourism industry has been hit hard and is still recovering from an economic crisis. A lawsuit filed in late March in the Orange Circuit Court reveals how sales at stores serving overseas customers have plummeted (over 40%).
From July 2016 to June 2019, Superdry “raised between $3.05 million and $3.5 million in annual revenue” since it opened in Disney Springs, according to the complaint.
The store appeared poised to make more profit in years four and five. “But in early 2020, the world changed,” the lawsuit states.
Disney Springs stores went dark as Disney theme parks and hotels were also closed. People were ordered to stay at home.
Disney Springs began a phased reopening in mid-May 2020, but nearly two years later, court documents called it “vintage Americana and Japanese-inspired graphics and British style.”
“Towards the end of the fifth year of the lease, the tenant was slowly recovering from the uncontrollable effects of the COVID pandemic,” the lawsuit states. “International tourism has recently started to resume, but is far from pre-pandemic levels.”
According to court documents, Superdry had signed a lease that gave either Superdry or Disney the option to terminate the lease early after five years if the store’s gross revenue fell below $4.2 million.
According to the lawsuit, the store’s gross revenue from July 2020 to June 2021 was $1.75 million.
However, Superdry argued that the lease had a force majeure clause, which should protect the store from disasters such as the COVID-19 pandemic.
Superdry also noted that it spent “significant amounts of money” building the stores it planned to operate at Disney Springs, at least until June 2026, when the current lease expired.
In December, the International Alliance of Operating Engineers sued a hotel on Disney property, arguing that it should be able to cancel the meeting without a $1 million penalty because COVID-19 cases were on the rise at the time. I was. The IUOE said a force majeure clause was included in the contract for the event, which was to take place in early 2022 at the Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Hotel.
The lawsuit was dismissed on Jan. 31 and both sides were ordered to pay their respective attorneys’ fees, according to federal court documents.
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