A hearing is set for Thursday at the Sudbury courthouse where lawyers for Vista Sudbury Hotel Inc., which owns the Rainbow Outlet Centre, will ask a judge to grant an injunction to prevent Zellers from closing its doors May 15.
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Vista alleges Zellers is violating a long-term lease.
Zellers announced in late February it was closing the store in the downtown mall, saying the store was no longer economically viable and it would be concentrating its efforts in the market on stores in New Sudbury and the South End.
Vista claims in a statement of claim filed that Zellers must fulfil a lease agreement it signed that lasts until the summer of 2012.
Zellers is the mallÂ?s anchor store and the entire mall will suffer irreparable financial harm if the store is allowed to close permanently, says the statement of claim.
Other tenants have indicated they will have no choice but to leave once the anchor store closes, says the claim.
The difference between Zellers being open and closed is the difference between the mall succeeding or failing, says the claim.
All allegations made in civil proceedings are not evidence and have not been proven in any court of law, but are simply a step in taking action against a second party.
As of Monday, Zellers had not filed any statement opposing the injunction application.
While asking the judge to grant the injunction to force Zellers to stay open in the downtown mall, Vista is also seeking $200,000 in punitive and exemplary damages and other unspecified damages for Zellers breaking the lease agreement.
Vista has spent more than $5 million renovating the mall and had planned further renovations, but the bank immediately cancelled funding commitments once Zellers made its decision to close, says the claim.