General Growth Properties is proactively working with troubled teen apparel chain Love Culture to recapture some of the retailer’s prime spaces in its malls. “We proactively negotiate with certain retailers to either relocate within the mall, downsize or vacate their space entirely,” the REIT’s CEO told investors on an earnings call. “Case in point is Love Culture, a retailer in 20 of our malls.”
Love Culture, founded in 2007 by a husband-and-wife team of executives from Forever 21, filed for bankruptcy protection in July 2014. General Growth was listed as one of the retailer’s top creditors with about $4 million in unpaid lease obligations. At the time of its bankruptcy filing, Love Culture operated 82 stores. United LC Capital LLC purchased the right to operate 55 Love Culture stores for $10.5 million. The rest of the stores closed.
“Love Culture generally occupies very well-located space in the mall and has relatively large store footprints,” Mathrani said. “We're taking back space at 15 of the locations in order to replace them with higher productivity retailers and to further curate the mall.”
