Retailer Settles Clothestime Suit

The Clothestime chain has won a $200,000 settlement from another retailer of junior women’s apparel that it alleged violated a lease agreement by competing against the chain in a Cypress shopping center, attorneys said Wednesday.

The defendants, Ik Soo Kim and Kee Sun Huang, agreed to pay the settlement costs, close their Fashionland store in the Cypress Center in Cypress, and never violate a similar agreement again, said Clothestime lawyer Richard J. Grabowski of Irvine.

Fashionland had been at the center since 1985, but did not start selling young women’s wear until 1990. The merchandising change violated a lease agreement that gave Clothestime, an Anaheim-based chain, the exclusive right to sell junior women’s apparel at the center.

The settlement came Monday, the day that trial of the lawsuit began in Fullerton.

Last year, another judge issued an injunction to stop another Fashionland store from violating a similar agreement for Clothestime in a Costa Mesa center.