Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in Illinois

I have started a perfume kiosk in a mall with high expectations. The leasing agent sweet talked to us (swore on his mother that everyone was paying that high rent) and made us sign a 3 year lease with $3100 per month rent. The only smart thing that we did was to include a condition that we can get out of lease after 15 months by giving 3 months notice if we do not meet 280,000 per year Gross in one year. It is highly unlikely that I will make 100,000 gross. We operate at 40% margin. We are currently loosing 1000 to 1500 per month from our pocket and are extremely frustrated. We have started this business in october 2009. We made some money in Dec 09 which barely paid my setup expenses. I paid 10,000 for kiosk,2500 for signage, 1000 for kiosk additions, 1500 for electrical work + 50,000 in inventory. I have invested my 12 years of savings into this business. There is a high end store (ULTA) that sells beauty products + saloon +colognes and perfumes right across my kiosk. It would open in 2 months. How do I figure out if this new store is an Anchor store or not. Because my lease says that I can get out if any such store opens. Please read the exact text from my lease

My big question is CAN I GET OUT OF LEASE BY USING THIS CLAUSE ?????? I would be highly thank ful if anybody can give me an answer. I would be the happiest man on earth if I can get out of this mall. I learned my lesson to never start any business again.

The store thats coming to my mall is www.ULTA.com . I went through their website and perfumes is one of their primary products. Will this store satisfy the first 3 lines below.I dont think this could be called an Anchor store.

******* . If, during the initial twelve (12) months of the Term only, Landlord permanently leases other premises in the Shopping Center for the primary use for the retail sale of perfume and cologne (with the exception of any such use by Anchor Stores (as defined in Section 1.1(i)), or any tenants existing as of the date of the execution of this Lease and their successors, assigns, and/or replacements, and with the exception of any such use in existing leases), then, in that event and provided that and so long as Tenant is not in default and is operating the Leased Premises as required herein, the initial Tenant named herein may, provided Tenant is not in default under this Lease, at its option upon ninety (90) days' prior written notice to Landlord given within thirty (30) days following the opening for business of such other tenant, terminate this Lease. This option of Tenant's right to terminate pursuant to this paragraph is personal to the initial Tenant named herein only, and is not transferable or assignable to any other party by agreement, operation of law, or in any other manner. The termination right contained in this paragraph shall be null and void in the event Tenant is in default at the time it makes such election to terminate this Lease, or in the event Tenant fails to continuously operate the Leased Premises at any time during the Term (and any extension) hereof. In the event Tenant elects to terminate the Lease as set forth above, this Lease shall terminate on the date which is ninety (90) days following Tenant�s notice to Landlord (such date hereinafter referred to in this section as �Termination Date�). If Tenant so elects to terminate and cancel, Tenant shall vacate and surrender the Leased Premises in the condition required by the terms of the Lease no later than the Termination Date. Landlord and Tenant hereby agree that in the event Tenant fails to vacate and surrender the Leased Premises on the Termination Date, Tenant shall be deemed to be trespassing, or, at Landlord�s election, holding over and Landlord shall have the right to invoke any remedy allowed by law and/or in equity and/or the Lease, and furthermore, Tenant expressly admits that Tenant�s indemnity obligations of the Lease include, but are not limited to, any and all damages incurred by Landlord due to Tenant�s failure to abide by said covenant to vacate and surrender on the Termination Date. Tenant acknowledges that Landlord may suffer damages as a result of Landlord�s contractual obligations to third parties based on Landlord�s reliance on Tenant�s covenant to vacate and surrender the Leased Premises on the Termination Date. Tenant agrees to pay all rent and other sums due under this Lease in accordance with its terms until the later to occur of (i) Tenant vacating and surrendering the Leased Premises, or (ii) the Termination Date along with any year end adjustments and Percentage Rent payable for a partial year. Landlord and Tenant hereby each relinquish, release, and waive any and all claims of any kind whatsoever arising under or in connection with this Lease accruing subsequent to the later to occur of (i) Tenant vacating and surrendering the Leased Premises, or (ii) the Termination Date, and on the Termination Date this Lease shall be deemed terminated and of no further force and effect whatsoever except as otherwise provided for herein and except for the provisions of Section 12.7 of the Lease, indemnity obligations arising out of facts occurring prior to the later to occur of (i) Tenant vacating and surrendering the Leased Premises, or (ii) the Termination Date, and those lease covenants which expressly survive the termination or expiration of this Lease. In the event Tenant timely exercises its right to terminate as described above, nothing contained herein shall be deemed as consent by Landlord to Tenant remaining in possession of the Leased Premises beyond the Termination Date. For the purpose of this Section 12.27 only, the term "Shopping Center" shall be deemed to include only that portion of the Shopping Center shown on Exhibit A attached hereto and shall specifically exclude any portions, buildings or outparcels which are not shown.

In the event Tenant elects to terminate this Lease pursuant to this section, Landlord hereby agrees to reimburse Tenant the amount of Ten Thousand and 00/100 Dollars ($10,000.00) for the unamortized portion of leasehold improvements, installation and removal costs, such reimbursement to be made no later than thirty (30) days following the Termination Date.

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Asked on 6/19/10, 10:23 am

1 Answer from Attorneys

I think you need to take the PRINTED LEASE to an attorney. First, this clause says that the term "Anchor Store" is defined in ANOTHER part of the lease. There may be other clauses in the lease that you're just not familiar with that could provide relief, or could modify this clause. Second, there is an and parenthesis that appears improperly placed or a phrase misquoted, and that could change the meaning of the is clause significantly. While you may have done a good job transposing the clause from your lease here, an attorney would be remiss if he or she relied on this clause to provide you with some direction instead of the actual lease document.

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Answered on 6/21/10, 8:30 am


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