By Deena Winter, Minnesota Reformer
MyPillow is getting evicted from one of two Shakopee warehouses it leases, but CEO Mike Lindell told the Reformer that the building has been sitting empty since last fall.
The company’s main manufacturing warehouse — about a mile away — is where all of the Minnesota company’s products are made, including the famous foam-filled pillow, as well as bath towels, slippers, coffee and mattress covers.
The Star Tribune first reported Tuesday that MyPillow owes its second warehouse landlord over $200,000 in rent, and a judge said she’d approve the landlord’s request to vacate the building after at least four default notices were sent over the past six months.
The empty warehouse at 4701 Valley Blvd. S was being used for retail equipment, much of which was auctioned off last year. Lindell said that since being dropped by multiple retailers in recent years, the building hasn’t been needed. It’s about one-third the size of their main warehouse, he said.
The building was subleased last year, Lindell said, and a new tenant was supposed to move in this month, but backed out at the last minute. He said the tenant was going to use the warehouse to store sugar beets.
“We were just sick about it,” Lindell said.
Even if the eviction isn’t crucial to the future of the business, Lindell is clearly struggling to save the company amid political and financial turmoil.
Walmart, Kohl’s, J.C. Penney, Wayfair, Bed Bath & Beyond and other companies pulled MyPillow products after Lindell’s prominent White House appearance after the Jan. 6 insurrection.
Lindell is fending off multiple lawsuits that could bankrupt the company he built from the ground up after getting sober. Dominion Voting Systems and Smartmatic are suing him for billions for defamation, citing false statements that they rigged the 2020 election.
Lindell has spent millions on his battle to prove the U.S. election system is fraught with fraud, and his employee-owned company has lost hundreds of millions of dollars amid the fallout. He said his employees — which numbered about 1,300 in late November — haven’t gotten a dividend in three years.
Lindell has said American Express reduced the company’s credit line from $1 million to $100,000 in September, and he “had to use debit cards” to get by.
A federal judge ruled last month that Lindell must make good on a $5 million challenge he made to anyone who could disprove his claim that the 2020 election was stolen. A California cyber forensics expert took him up on the bet, and won. Lindell’s management company was ordered to pay the money, plus interest, within 30 days. Lindell vowed to appeal.
Lindell acknowledged MyPillow hasn’t paid the lease on the empty warehouse in recent months.
Asked about the company’s financial situation, he said, “We’re fine.”
“We’ve just shifted our focus from retail,” he said. “Now we’re coming out the other side.”
Minnesota Reformer is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Minnesota Reformer maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor J. Patrick Coolican for questions: info@minnesotareformer.com. Follow Minnesota Reformer on Facebook and Twitter.
