Guri City Wins Store Eviction Lawsuit... Lotte Mart to Open in April Next Year

Demolition of the Simin Mart Sign Mall Underway

Guri City 'Citizen Mart'.

The city of Guri, Gyeonggi Province (Mayor Baek Kyung-hyun) announced on the 24th that following the victory in the eviction lawsuit against stores including Simin Mart (formerly L Mart) on the 4th, it will begin restoration and remodeling through seizure and forced execution by the end of December, enabling Lotte Mart to operate by April next year.

According to the city, on February 26, it notified Simin Mart of the termination of the lease contract and separately filed eviction lawsuits against Simin Mart and its tenant stores. The court ruling resulted in 7 withdrawals, 22 wins for Simin Mart and tenant stores, and 1 dismissal. The dismissed stores were two screen golf practice facilities on the 3rd floor of Simin Mart. Since Simin Mart deliberately did not submit the contract, the city secured the contract through the lawsuit and is conducting separate eviction lawsuits.

Following the legal confirmation of eviction in favor of the city regarding Simin Mart, the city plans to start restoration and remodeling work through seizure and forced execution of movable property owned by Simin Mart by the end of December.

Additionally, the city has held six working-level meetings with Lotte Mart and is currently negotiating the succession of rights of tenant stores in Simin Mart as a bidding condition starting this week. The city plans to receive a business plan proposal including the results of the rights succession negotiations and the MD (merchandise composition).

Mayor Baek Kyung-hyun of Guri said, “The attraction of the large corporation hypermarket Lotte Mart, which all citizens have long wished for, was confirmed in May. In October, with the victory in the eviction lawsuit against Simin Mart, forced execution became possible. We are making every effort to complete the succession negotiations of tenant store rights, forced execution of movable property of Simin Mart, and restoration promptly to advance the opening date of Lotte Mart.” He added, “Citizens have been inconvenienced due to the absence of a large corporate hypermarket, but we will do our best to ensure it opens in April next year.”

Meanwhile, with the legal authority resting with the city following the eviction lawsuit victory, it was confirmed that during the sixth working-level meeting, Lotte Mart was requested to remove seven Simin Mart signboards installed on locations such as the rooftop advertising tower of the distribution complex market, and these are currently being removed free of charge.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.