KUALA LUMPUR (May 6): Pahang-based hypermarket operator TF Value-Mart Sdn Bhd has initiated legal action against GCH Retail (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, operator of the Giant Hypermarket brand, citing loss of business and non-compliance with a court order to surrender a 180,000 sq ft premises located in Batu Caves.

TF Value-Mart, which operates a chain of stores under its own brand name, said it was to take over the lease of the premises after GCH Retail vacates it. It had inked a tenancy agreement in 2023 with the landlord of the premises — Crystal Promenade Sdn Bhd (formerly known as H Land Development Sdn Bhd) — to assume the tenancy once GCH Retail's lease expired on Jan 31, 2024.

But on expiration of its lease, GCH Retail failed to vacate the premises, claimed TF Value-Mart. Instead, it filed a suit against Crystal Promenade for alleged breach of contract and disruption of its operations, said TF Value-Mart in a statement.

Crystal Promenade, in a counterclaim, obtained a summary judgment in its favour, which affirmed the expiration of GCH Retail's tenancy agreement and the absence of any option for GCH Retail to extend the lease beyond Jan 31 this year. The summary judgment further stipulated that GCH Retail was "obligated to surrender vacant possession of the premises to the landlord in accordance with the terms of the initial tenancy agreement", said TF Value-Mart.

But GCH Retail continued to occupy the premises, it claimed.

Therefore, TF Value-Mart said it had initiated legal action against GCH Retail to protect its business interest with regards to its Batu Caves operations, which it had intended to start on Feb 1, 2024.

GCH Retail, meanwhile, has yet to reply to requests for comments on the matter at the time of writing.

TF Value-Mart said it has, between 2016 and 2021, taken over the premises of nine hypermarket stores from GCH Retail when its leases were not renewed by the DFI Retail Group, which sold GCH Retail to Macrovalue Sdn Bhd in 2023.