Sherry-Lehmann has been scrambling to maintain the lights on — literally – as the long-lasting Recent York City wine shop fends off lawsuits from indignant clients and struggles to pay down a large tax bill, The Post has learned.
The swanky store at 550 Park Avenue got a Feb. 27 visit from reps of Con Edison, who gave staff a “thirty minute warning” to collect their personal belongings before the ability was shut off over unpaid bills, in response to a source near the situation.
Shyda Gilmer — the shop’s chief executive and co-owner, who sources claim has used the shop like his personal booze stash whilst its funds have deteriorated — eventually coughed up enough money to maintain the lights on, in response to insiders.
“Shyda was not answering calls,” a source told The Post. “Finally on the last minute he spoke with the guy and paid off online a bit greater than half of the balance to maintain us in the sunshine.”
It was the newest dramatic scene contained in the upscale store on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, which in recent months has weathered indignant complaints from customers demanding either money or immediate delivery of pricey wines they paid for weeks, months, and even years ago.
Shyda Gilmer is co-owner of 88-year-old Sherry Lehmann.NYPost
Staff, meanwhile, hasn’t been paid because the showdown with ConEd, sources near the situation said.
Last Wednesday, the 88-year-old retailer — which has boasted clients over the many years including Greta Garbo and Andy Warhol — dropped from being Recent York state’s ninth-largest tax deadbeat to the thirteenth due to a recent payment of $506,627, public records on the Recent York Department of Taxation and Finance show.
Nevertheless, the wine store still owes a staggering $2,766,431 in back taxes, in response to the agency.
A spokesperson for the shop told The Post: “Sherry-Lehmann has been in constant contact with the State tax agency and has been paying the balance down since last March, and the corporate is working diligently to get to zero balance.”
As a co-owner of Sherry-Lehmann, Gilmer is probably going giving priority to the tax man because he’s personally chargeable for the corporate’s taxes — whether the corporate files bankruptcy or not, experts say.
Sherry-Lehmann’s shelves were bare throughout the all crucial holiday season.Lisa Fickenscher
State tax authorities hold the ability to shut down a business and dump its assets over unpaid arrears, a spokesperson for the state agency told The Post.
“Not paying sales tax is viewed legally as walking into Fort Knox and taking money,” said Fred Stevens, a bankruptcy attorney at Klestadt Winters Jureller Southard & Stevens.
Sherry-Lehmann’s tax payments aren’t helping customers who claim they were stiffed. Those include Raymond Fong and Pak Chung, who’re suing over $800,000 value of rare, pricey Bordeaux — cases of Chateau Margaux, Mouton Rothschild and Chateau Lafite Rothschild — which they claim they paid for and will have received in 2019.
The shop owes Recent York nearly $3 million in unpaid sales tax.Gabriella Bass
“Mr. Gilmer had a litany of excuses” over the past three years by which the plaintiffs have been waiting for his or her wine, Chung claimed in a January affidavit. Gilmer blamed “trade tariffs, Covid-related issues, shipping problems, etc.,” Chung alleged.
Sherry Lehmann, whose law firm Nixon Peabody has filed a motion to dismiss the case, told The Post in a press release in December that the lawsuit “has no merit” because the corporate “offered the shoppers a full refund of their deposit — which they declined.” On the time, company added that the wine is “scheduled to reach in mid-February.”
As of the primary week of March, the wine still hasn’t been delivered, said Sheldon Gopstein, an attorney for the 2 clients, said of Sherry-Lehmann’s recent tax payments.
Recent York’s Department of Finance has the ability to shut down the shop for not paying its sales tax.Gabriella Bass
“They are only taking steps to assist themselves,” Gopstein said.
Sherry-Lehmann’s spokesperson said: “The corporate’s shipment policy is simple: as soon as Sherry-Lehmann receives purchased product from its suppliers, we ship it to customers.”
Goptstein can also be representing one other customer who’s suing the wine store for $184,452 for failing to deliver wine he purchased, in response to court documents. Elsewhere, a Long Island trucking company, Hub Truck Rental Corp., sued the retailer to recoup nearly $40,000 in leasing fees, court papers show. Sherry Lehmann never responded to the criticism and a judge ordered the retailer to repay the $37,558 debt.
“The corporate is caring for its financial obligations with vendors and suppliers as the corporate continues to handle any past balances that arose throughout the pandemic,” the Sherry-Lehman spokesperson said.
