Piggly Wiggly Southern, Inc. v. Heard

261 Ga. 503, 405 S.E.2d 478 (1991)

Facts

The parties entered a lease which called for a base rent, plus a percentage rent based on annual gross sales. The lease ran for a term of fifteen years, was renewed for an additional seven years with options to renew for two additional three-year terms at the end of the seven years. The tenant, a retail grocery store, (D), exercised both of the three-year options. One month into the second three-year term, D was acquired by another corporation, vacated the premises owned by the landlord (P), and moved into a shopping center owned by the new corporation. D continued to pay the base rent but refused to sublet the store for the remainder of the lease term. P sued for damages resulting from D's alleged breach of the lease. The lease provided that D was not required to use the premises as a grocery store, and could cease using it for those purposes without P's consent.