Aladdin’s Desert Passage mall in more disputes with tenants

Monday, April 16, 2001 | 10:56 a.m.

Jewelry retailer Tresor has asked a court to overturn an eviction notice by its landlord, Aladdin Bazaar LLC, saying it's been wrongfully accused of defaulting on $45,800 in unpaid rents.

Tresor, which said it had "legitimate defenses" to the alleged obligation to pay rents, said it was "commercially frustrated" in its attempt to operate its business at the Desert Passage mall because Aladdin Bazaar failed to fulfill representations it allegedly made to Tresor to bring in the "quantity and quality of customer traffic" to the mall.

The mall is part of the Aladdin resort hotel-casino on the Las Vegas Strip.

Tresor, in a response filed Wednesday in Clark County District Court to the eviction notice, said Aladdin Bazaar had repeatedly promised there would be a high end anchor tenant, such as Nordstrom, to bring customers into the mall, along with nightly entertainment at the Aladdin Theater for the Performing Arts and gaming events.

Seattle-based retailer Nordstrom now plans to build a store at the Fashion Show mall in 2003, after its initial plans to build a three-level store at a proposed 1.2 million-square-foot retail center between the Mandalay Bay and Luxor hotel-casinos collapsed in 1999.

Tresor, which said it entered into negotiations with Aladdin Bazaar on Feb. 16 to modify its lease allegedly due to the landlord's failure to attract sufficient business to the mall, said it agreed to provide mall manager Jim Harris with information including a breakdown of advertising and other expenses made by Tresor to attract business, and a current profit and loss statement.

The jeweler, which said Aladdin Bazaar violated an alleged understanding that it would refrain from evicting Tresor until a mutually agreed arrangement was made, said the landlord accepted $33,567 in rents and other charges for February through April and allegedly billed Tresor for temporary power that isn't properly chargeable to Tresor.

Aladdin Bazaar officials weren't available for comment.

Separately, Aladdin Bazaar sued to evict another tenant, Erwin Pearl Retail Inc., alleging it breached a 10-year lease when it defaulted on $47,920 in rents since August.

Aladdin Bazaar said Erwin Pearl claimed it needed more time, after it was served an eviction notice on March 8, to secure funds to bring itself current on its rents, but instead allegedly used the additional time to file an affidavit opposing its eviction on March 15.

The suit said Erwin Pearl, which was granted an extension until March 16, paid $11,227 of a total of $59,147 in rents.

Erwin Pearl could not be reached for comment.