Gabrielle Russon
A clothing company is suing Disney, claiming the company wants to kick them out of their Disney Springs retail store because it hasn’t made enough money during the pandemic.
The United Kingdom-based brand Superdry said its Disney landlord gave notice in October it was terminating the store’s lease early as sales struggled without the return of international tourists to Orlando.
“A representative of Landlord will be in contact with you to discuss the orderly winding down of operations and vacating the Premises,” Disney said in an Oct. 28 letter included in court documents.
The lease was supposed to end around Monday, the lawsuit said, although a Superdry manager who answered the phone Thursday said the store is still open for business.
“We are in negotiations to renew our lease right now,” said the manager who declined to give her name and did not seem familiar with the lawsuit. “We are still working with Disney.”
Attorneys for Superdry and Disney did not immediately return messages for comment.
It’s the latest lawsuit out of the pandemic in Orlando where the tourism industry was hit hard and is still recovering from the economic crisis. The Orange Circuit Court suit filed in late March reveals how sales dipped dramatically — more than 40% — for the store that caters to international customers.
Since opening at Disney Springs, Superdry “generated receipts of between $3.05 million and $3.50 million annually” from July 2016 through June 2019, the lawsuit said.
The store seemed poised to make more money in the fourth and fifth years; “However, in early 2020, the world changed,” the lawsuit said.
The stores at Disney Springs went dark as Disney theme parks and hotels shut down too. People were ordered to stay at home.
Disney Springs began its phased-in reopening in mid-May 2020 but nearly two years later, business wasn’t fully back at the store that sold men’s and women’s clothes that was described in court documents as “vintage Americana and Japanese-inspired graphics with a British style.”
“Tenant was slowly bouncing back from the uncontrollable effects of the COVID pandemic toward the end of the fifth lease year,” the lawsuit said. “While international tourism has recently begun to resume, it is far from pre-pandemic levels.”
Superdry had signed a lease that gave both Superdry or Disney the option of terminating the lease early after five years if the store’s gross receipts fell below $4.2 million, according to court documents.
The store’s gross receipts were $1.75 million from July 2020 to June 2021, the lawsuit said.
But Superdry argued the lease has a force majeure provision which it said should protect the store from a disaster such as the COVID-19 pandemic.
Superdry also pointed out it has spent “significant funds” in building out the store that it had expected to run at Disney Springs at least until June 2026 when the current lease was supposed to expire.
In December, the International Union of Operating Engineers sued a hotel on Disney property, arguing it should be able to cancel a conference without a $1 million penalty because of the rising COVID-19 cases at the time. The IUOE said it had a force majeure clause in the contract for the event that was supposed to be held in early 2022 at the Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Hotel.
Federal court documents show that the lawsuit was dismissed on Jan. 31 and both sides were ordered to pay their own attorney fees.
