American Eagle has temporarily relocated at Westfield Montgomery Mall in Bethesda. The apparel retailer is now open in a temporary space on Level 2 outside of Macy's Home. Their permanent location is undergoing renovations, and will be closed during that time.
Coincidentally, American Eagle has just sued Westfield to get out of its lease at San Francisco Centre Mall in California. The chain blames Westfield for letting safety conditions at that mall to "deteriorate into disarray" in its legal filing. "American Eagle, which has a shop in the mall, said that Westfield breached its lease agreement and its neglect of common areas in the mall led American Eagle employees to 'suffer and respond to gun violence, physical assaults, burglaries, and robberies,'" CNN reports. Of course, that's not exactly accurate, as San Francisco is experiencing these problems on a larger scale beyond just that mall over the last few years.
American Eagle is also trying to get out of its lease at Spinoso's Northlake Mall in North Carolina, according to WSOC-TV. It has countersued that mall operator as one of five tenants who have announced their intention to leave the property. "Spinoso allowed the shopping center - Northlake Mall - to deteriorate into an atmosphere reminiscent of a warzone, replete with violent criminals, multiple shootings, terrorized tenants and customers, and diminished business. The lawsuit claims the Apple store moved out of the mall after three shootings," WSOC reports.
Would be interesting to know if American Eagle is 'positioning' itself in an effort to appear mitigating possible mall crime, and if they're doing the same elsewhere in other malls. An observer might say that they're setting up a situation where they have,someone to blame for rampant crime (and get damages from), now elsewhere but certainly possible here, too.
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