Sherry-Lehmann struggles to maintain the sunshine on – literally – as an iconic New York wine store fends off lawsuits from indignant customers and struggles to pay a huge tax bill, The Post has learned.
The luxury store at 550 Park Avenue was visited by a Con Edison representative on February 27, who gave staff a “thirty-minute warning” to gather their personal belongings before the electricity was turned off because of unpaid bills, in keeping with a source near the situation.
Shyda Gilmer – the chief executive and co-owner of the store, who sources say used the store as his personal stash of alcohol whilst his funds deteriorated – has finally coughed up enough money to maintain the lights on, in keeping with insiders.
“Shyda wasn’t answering his calls,” a source told The Post. “Finally, he had a last-minute chat with the guy and he paid off just over half of the balance online to maintain us within the highlight.”
It was the newest dramatic scene at an upmarket Upper East Side store in Manhattan that has endured indignant complaints from customers in recent months demanding money or immediate delivery of expensive wines they’ve been paying for for weeks, months and even years.
![Shyda Gilmer with a bottle of champagne.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/NYPICHPDPICT000004128962.jpg?w=1024)
Meanwhile, the staff has not been paid because the matchup with ConEd, in keeping with sources near the situation.
Last Wednesday, the 88-year-old retailer – which has boasted clients including Greta Garbo and Andy Warhol for many years – dropped from New York State’s ninth-largest tax blind spot to the New York Department of Taxes and Finance’s thirteenth show.
Nevertheless, in keeping with the agency, the wine store still owes a staggering $2,766,431 in back taxes.
A spokesperson for the store told The Post: “Sherry-Lehmann has been in constant contact with the state tax agency and has been paying off the balance since March last 12 months, and the corporate is working diligently to bring the balance to zero.”
As co-owner of Sherry-Lehmann, Gilmer is probably going to offer preference to the tax officer because he’s personally liable for the corporate’s taxes — whether the corporate is asserted bankrupt or not, experts say.
![Bare shelves at Sherry-Lehmann.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/NYPICHPDPICT000003764304.jpg?w=1024)
State tax authorities have the appropriate to shut down the corporate and sell its assets because of unpaid arrears, a spokesman for the state agency The Post said.
“Failure to pay sales tax is legally seen as walking into Fort Knox and taking the cash,” said Fred Stevens, bankruptcy attorney at Klestadt Winters Jureller Southard & Stevens.
Sherry-Lehmann’s tax payments don’t help customers who say they have been scammed. These include Raymond Fong and Pak Chung, who’re suing rare, expensive Bordeaux value greater than $800,000 – the cases of Chateau Margaux, Mouton Rothschild and Chateau Lafite Rothschild – which they are saying they paid and may have received in 2019.
![Exterior entrance to Sherry-Lehmann.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/NYPICHPDPICT000003726703.jpg?w=1024)
“Mr. Gilmer had a litany of excuses” over the past three years where plaintiffs waited for his or her wine, Chung claimed in a January affidavit. Gilmer blamed “trade tariffs, Covid issues, shipping issues, etc,” Chung claimed .
Sherry Lehmann, whose law firm Nixon Peabody filed a motion to dismiss the case, told The Post in a December statement that the lawsuit “has no basis” since the firm “offered customers a full refund of their deposit – which they declined.” “. On the time, the corporate added that the wine was “planned for mid-February.”
In the primary week of March, the wine was still not delivered, Sheldon Gopstein, the lawyer for the 2 clients, said about Sherry-Lehmann’s recent tax payments.
![The exterior of the Sherry-Lehmann entrance.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/NYPICHPDPICT000003726674.jpg?w=1024)
“They’re just taking steps to assist themselves,” Gopstein said.
A Sherry-Lehmann spokesperson said: “The corporate’s shipping policy is straightforward: as soon as Sherry-Lehmann receives a purchased product from its suppliers, we ship it to customers.”
Goptstein also represents one other client who’s suing a wine store for $184,452 for failing to deliver purchased wine, in keeping with court documents. Elsewhere, Long Island trucking company Hub Truck Rental Corp. is suing the retailer to get well nearly $40,000 in lease payments, court documents show. Sherry Lehmann never responded to the criticism, and the judge ordered the vendor to pay the $37,558 debt.
“The corporate is taking care of its financial obligations to vendors and suppliers as the corporate continues to cope with any past balances which have arisen through the pandemic,” spokesperson Sherry-Lehman said.