A judge is ordering the tax free store at the second largest border crossing in Canada in the judicial administration, since it fights to pay millions of dollars in debt and backward rent.
In a ruling at the beginning of this month, the Superior Court of Justice of the Justice of Ontario appointed a receiver for the Free Tax Store of Peace Bridge that is empowered to take control of the assets, supervise the liquidation and pay the creditors.
According to a claim filed by Royal Bank of Canada in the Ontario Court of Appeals in January, Peace Bridge Duty Free Inc. is the tenant of the Free Tax Store on the Ontario side of the Peace Bridge on the border between Fort Erie, Ontario and Buffalo, New York. The owner is the Buffalo and Fort Erie public bridge authority. Peace Bridge has operated the tax -free retail store for more than three decades. In normal times, the store was open 24 hours a day, every day, and used about 90 employees.
The current lease, dated July 28, 2016, ends in October 2031. It requires that the Paz Bridge pay the rent, which consists of a base rental and percentage rental, and to pay taxes on applicable sales, property taxes, operating costs and public services. The minimum annual base rental is $ 4 million or $ 33,333 per month, according to the judicial document.
The owner says that the tenant owes up to $ 17 million
The public bridge authority of Buffalo and Fort Erie states that the store owes up to $ 17 million in the unpaid rental years, while Royal Bank of Canada says that $ 3.3 million in debt is pending.
The retail of the Niagara region says that it must less, but the total is still in millions.
CBC News has communicated with the store to comment.
Continuing operating for now, the financial problems of the store arise when tax -free stores throughout the country suffer from sales in the middle of a strong drop in cross -border visits of Canadians and Americans.
The number of cross-border travelers who go from Canada to the US.
The border figures show that 4,105,516 travelers crossed the northern border of the United States.
