Sherry-Lehmann’s landlord is taking legal action against the iconic wine retailer and its former owners over $3.6 million in unpaid rent. They’re also demanding that its shuttered store on Park Avenue be cleared out immediately, according to a court filing.
Ever since the New York State Liquor Authority shut it down for failing to renew its liquor license, the store has been closed. But according to a lawsuit filed in the New York Supreme Court in Manhattan last week, the wine seller hasn’t paid its rent since the start of the pandemic in March 2020.
Now, Hong Kong-based property firm Glorious Sun is suing the store and its former owners, who were all signatories on the lease over the previous 17 years. The complaint alleges that each of the former owners are “guarantors” on the lease, thus making them liable for the rent debt, “even if they are no longer around,” Edmond O’Brien, the landlord’s attorney, told The New York Post.
In July, the FBI and other law enforcement agents raided the store, removing boxes and putting them into a white van parked outside. The agents also descended on an office complex owned by Glorious Sun in Pearl River, New York, where Sherry-Lehmann’s Wine Caves was allegedly moved.
