The Palladium and Novy Smichov shopping malls have cancelled lease contracts with Nordsee as of the end of July, which spells the end of the restaurant chain in the Czech Republic. The operator Master Mariner declared itself to be insolvent back in May, with debts of more than CZK 40 million. The majority of this appears to have been back rent owed to its landlords, along with 137,000 Swiss francs owed in franchise and marketing charges. The pandemic couldn’t have come at a worse time for Master Mariner, which got into trouble already in 2019 when its Nordsee restaurant closed at Arkady Pankrac. The failure of customers to return in the same numbers after the end of pandemic restrictions has made it impossible for it to cover its newest invoices, to say nothing of paying off old debts.
Court documents show that the oldest rental invoices date back to March 2021. However, those unpaid invoices (in CHF) for franchise and marketing charges date all the way back to February 2020.
Also in ThePrime
Marco Maio: On tornados, renewal and architecture (Podcast episode)
