Bridgestone/Firestone, Inc. v. Wilmington Mall Realty Corp.

Judge Lewis

dissenting.

I respectfully dissent. The majority relies on Texaco, Inc. v. Creel, and I do not believe that case is controlling here. In Texaco, the Supreme Court construed two provisions dealing with an option to purchase, not an option to renew or re-lease. Several aspects of the Texaco case serve to distinguish it from the case before us.

First, the Court in Texaco found it important that, by the terms of the lease, any option granted was “continuing and pre-emptive” and “the failure of [the tenant] to exercise same in any one case shall not affect [the tenant’s] right to exercise…