Mall Owner Sues Gap for Rent on CCP Virus-Shuttered Stores

Mall Owner Sues Gap for Rent on CCP Virus-Shuttered Stores
The Gap logo is displayed on a window at a Gap store on May 25, 2018 in San Francisco, Calif. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

NEW YORK—Gap Inc. is being sued for refusing to pay rent for stores temporarily closed during the CCP virus pandemic.

Mall owner Simon Property Group said in a lawsuit filed this week that the clothing retailer owes three months of rent, totaling $65.9 million. Gap has more than 390 stores at Indianapolis-based Simon’s malls, including its namesake brand, Old Navy, and Banana Republic.

NTD Photo
Foot Locker at Dadeland Mall in Miami, Fla., on Aug. 28, 2009. (Alexander Tamargo/Getty Images)
A Gap Inc. retail store.
A Gap Inc. retail store in La Jolla, Calif., on May 17, 2017. (Mike Blake/Reuters)

Gap and other major retailers, including sneaker seller Foot Locker, have said they wouldn’t pay rent for stores that were forced to close due to the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus pandemic. In April, Gap warned that it may be sued by its landlords and that a dispute could be costly and have “an uncertain outcome.”

San Francisco-based Gap did not respond to a request for comment Thursday.

By Joseph Pisani

NTD staff contributed to this report.

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