“Grieder” has been selling clothes on Zurich’s Bahnhofstrasse since 1913. Now the traditional business has to move out of the premises. According to the federal court, there is no tenant extension.
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A woman cleans the shop window of the traditional Grieder store, photographed in Zurich on May 11, 2020.
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bai./(sda) The Grieder fashion house does not receive a tenant extension and must leave the premises on Zurich’s Bahnhofstrasse by the end of 2024 at the latest. The Federal Supreme Court decided this and approved a complaint from a Swatch company.
Swatch bought the building in 2014 from the large bank Credit Suisse and terminated the fashion house for personal use in 2016 until the end of 2024. The Zurich High Court confirmed the validity of the termination.
In the judgment published on Tuesday, the federal court only had to decide whether an extension of the rental period is possible.
The first civil law department in Lausanne answered no. She comes to the conclusion that an extension is only permissible if it can avert tenants’ difficulties and inconveniences that represent a hardship for them.
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Ordinary unpleasant consequences of a termination, such as relocating the branch with the highest turnover, which has been located at the same location since 1913, do not justify an extension, according to the Federal Court. These facts would still exist even if an extended lease expires.
The main aim of an extension is that a tenant has more time to search for a replacement property. The Federal Court considers the eight years between the termination in mid-2016 and the end of the contract on December 31, 2024 to be sufficiently long.
It does not matter that the fashion house could have benefited from an extension of up to six years if the notice of termination was given later.
Judgment 4A_552 / 2019 of April 21, 2020
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