The Cheesecake Factory won’t be sending Simon Properties a rent check for its Lenox Square restaurant in April.
The company’s sister eatery Grand Lux in Phipps Plaza (also a Simon property) across the street, is putting its checkbook down as well.
As a matter of fact, The Cheesecake Factory and its “affiliated restaurant concepts” including its portfolio of Fox Restaurants—North Italia, Flower Child, Zinburger—won’t be sending landlords across the country rent money next month, the company wrote recently in a letter to property owners where its eateries are situated.
The announcement is in response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
“Due to these extraordinary events, I am asking for your patience and, frankly, your help,” David Overton, the chairman, Founder, and CEO of The Cheesecake Factory, wrote in the letter.
“Unfortunately, I must let you know that The Cheesecake Factory and its affiliated restaurant concepts will not make any of their rent payments for the month of April 2020.”
Founded in Beverly Hills, CA in 1972, The Cheesecake Factory operates 294 restaurants across 39 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and in Canada, and as of 2019 includes Phoenix-based Fox Restaurants.
“Please understand that we do not take this action or make this decision lightly, and while we hope to resume our rent payments as soon as reasonably possible, we simply cannot predict the extent or the duration of the current crisis,” Overton continued.
“We are continuing to evaluate the implications of this situation on our business and we realize the impact this action will have on our landlords. We appreciate our landlords understanding given the exigency of the current situation.”
[Editor’s note: The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic is rapidly evolving as is its effect on Atlanta, and the City’s businesses and its residents. Click here for What Now Atlanta’s ongoing coverage of the crisis. For guidance and updates on the pandemic, please visit the C.D.C. website.]
