The fashion retailer H&M suspends rental payments “until the situation is clarified”, it is said on request. The landlords were “informed”.
On top of that. Even the current profiteers of the Corona crisis are already informing their landlords about possible deferral of rent. The “Welt am Sonntag” reports from letters from individual branches of Edeka Nord. The regional company wrote to the landlords: “We ask for your understanding that our rental payments will now only be made subject to repayment.”-
Edeka Nord in particular currently has no reason to cut the rent or not to pay it at all. The regional company is part of Edeka (consists of a total of seven companies). The supermarket giant recently generated sales of over 53 billion euros. Business is doing very well during the current corona virus crisis.
An Edeka Nord spokeswoman said the letter had been sent “preventively”. The rents were paid normally. Experts said the company is only arming itself against official measures. So Edeka Nord wants to protect itself legally if branches have to be closed due to existing protective measures. But there is currently no good reason for this. All states state that the food supply is secured.
The Edeka headquarters explains in a statement: “We very much regret that a letter from the Edeka Regionalgesellschaft Nord has given a misleading impression.” A press spokesman emphasized: “We make it clear: Edeka Nord will not make any rent payments under reservation.” In the current situation, the company is firmly on the side of the landlord. “Of course, Edeka Nord has paid all rents for its markets and will continue to pay them 100 percent in the future.”
According to “Welt am Sonntag”, supermarket giant HIT is said to have sent a similar letter. The company denies CHIP: “Hit continues to pay the rent and will continue to pay the rent.”
The pioneer of rental deferrals was the sporting goods manufacturer Adidas, which had also announced that it would no longer want to pay rents for the time being. After fierce criticism, the company backed off and apologized.
In an open letter it says: “Many of you felt that the decision to require renters to defer our rent for April was unsound.” And further: “Your opinion is important to us, and your opinion is clear: You are disappointed with Adidas.”
For these reasons, the company apologizes “in all forms”. The rent for the month of April had been paid. “Fairness and team spirit have always been closely linked to Adidas.”
The sporting goods manufacturer had to close its shops due to the corona pandemic. “It is true that Adidas, like many other companies, temporarily suspends rent payments as a precaution,” a spokeswoman said at the time.
However, Adidas now needs a billion dollar loan. The Bloomberg news agency had spoken of government aid. The company denied the report, saying it would take out loans.
The company had announced two days ago that, given the high level of economic uncertainty surrounding the Corona virus outbreak, “it was proactively taking a conservative approach to liquidity management to maintain the company’s financial flexibility in the current environment.”
Adidas also stopped its planned share buyback program.
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