Shops aboard Queen Mary given short-term reprieve

LONG BEACH – Permanently docked on the aquatic edge of Long Beach, the Queen Mary has long been subject to rumors of being haunted. Such rumors have even been incorporated into a marketing plan to help draw tourists and visitors to the retired ocean liner. Of course, some of those tourists and visitors who end up patronizing the Queen Mary probably also visit one of the many shops on board the ship. In early September, the Queen Mary’s management team issued a 30-day notice to evict to the ship’s shops. At the requests of the retail tenants, both the city of Long Beach and the Queen Mary agreed to allow the shops to remain aboard the ocean liner through the first week of 2015 on a month-to-month basis at base-rate rents. The ship’s retail area will become a ghost town beginning Jan. 6, 2015, as upgrades to the ship are scheduled to take place. Percentage rates were waived “in order to generate additional cash flow for the retail tenants to assist in their relocation,” according to Queen Mary officials. According to Queen Mary management, San Diego-based Event Network has partnered with the permanently docked ship to oversee retail operations through 2019. Event Network serves as...