Owner Can't Force Tenant to Reopen Store

A shoe store lease had a continuous operations clause. When the tenant started having financial problems, it tried unsuccessfully to negotiate a termination of its lease. Then the tenant closed the store and moved out of the space, but continued to pay its minimum rent. The owner sued the tenant for violating its lease and asked the court to order the tenant to reopen its store.

A Pennsylvania appeals court ruled that the owner couldn't force the tenant to reopen its store. The court said that the owner had failed to prove that it would suffer “immediate and irreparable harm” if the store remained closed and that the owner had adequate remedies under the lease, including collecting liquidated damages. Also, forcing the tenant to reopen its store would disproportionately harm it, the court added [Summit Towne Centre, Inc. v. The Shoe Show of Rocky Mount, Inc.].