Upmarket food retailer Waitrose, part of the John Lewis Partnership, is being sued for lost profits by a photo-booth operator after it closed 17 instore booths.
Snap Digital Imaging, which had contracted with Safeway to operate photo booths in several supermarkets, claims that Waitrose unlawfully closed the booths following its acquisition of 19 former Safeway stores in June 2004. It is seeking almost £300,000 in damages.
Waitrose bought the stores as going concerns after Safeway merged with Morrisons in March 2004. The stores, including premises in Abergavenny, Sheffield and Worthing, formed part of a 52-strong portfolio sold by Morrisons in order to ease competition concerns.
Snap Digital claims that it received a letter from Waitrose purporting to end its two-year-old contract with Safeway in June 2004. According to the High Court claim, 17 booths were shut down over the next four months.
However, Snap Digital says that the contract contained a clause stipulating that the arrangement could not be terminated before October 2008.
It claims that because Safeway had “assigned the benefit of and the obligations under the agreement” to Waitrose, it is entitled to £276,323 for lost profits and £12,653 for removal and storage costs.
Waitrose confirmed that it “will be contesting” the claim, but refused to comment further.
Waitrose’s Safeway acquisition, which is the largest undertaken by John Lewis, increased the supermarket chain’s selling space by 20% and took the brand into new areas in Wales and the North West. It now runs 166 stores.
Snap Digital Imaging Ltd v Waitrose Ltd Queen’s Bench Division
Claim Number: HQ05X00899
Claim Date: 31 March 2005
Issued By: Tollers Solicitors, of Northampton
References: EGi Legal News 24/05/05
