RetroRadar Thoughts and Prayers Request

[Big-T]

Hey Fedora Family,

Leslie and I are very independent folks, however when we need some help, we are not too proud to come to our family.

As most of you know, we opened of a really cool retail location in the historic old downtown square of Carrollton, Texas.

Well right after we opened, our landlord has lost a screw and is trying to increase our rent in the middle of the lease by saying he never gave us permission to use this or that. We have talked to our attorney and know that he doesn't have a leg to stand on. This past Tuesday, I had to call 911 and have the cops come out because he came out and started tearing down some of our American Flags, and throwing our merchandize around.

All the other retailers on the square are behind us 100% and have offered to help in any way they can. But we're still feeling a lot of stress, and odds are, we'll have to move to a new location when our trial lease is up in January. That means new fixtures, new signage--new expenses we really don't need.

I was up all night with Leslie in tears begging me to not open back up because she was afraid of this kook coming back out with a shotgun or something. I told her that this was a case of good vs. evil, and I was not going to quit.

We have opened up the online store at retroradar.com to try to recover some of our initial costs.

So long story short we need your help.
1. Please stand with us in thoughts and prayers.
2. Stop by our online shop and keep us in mind for your Christmas Gifts.
3. Put on your thinking cap of anything we could or should be doing.


Folks, this whold thing has got Leslie really upset. Please shoot her an email hug for me at leslie@retroradar.com


Thanks

Craig "Big-T" Thompson

 

[Renderking Fisk]

What's the most I can do, Big T? I'll have to get to work on my links page and feature you there.

Do you know what caused this guy to lose a screw? Is he taking his political fustration out on you guys? Does your patriotic nature have something to do with it?

 

[Marlowe]

That's a good point. Maybe if you explain to us what you think is on his mind, some of us here can come up with helpful suggestions. Not that I or we are in any way in his corner, but sometimes an outside perspective makes it easier to see a problem more clearly.

On the other hand, if he's merely out to try to increase his revenue-generating, I'm not sure what any of us can do...

 

[MK]

That sounds awful. Tell us more.

 

[Big-T]

The story may be a little tough to tell in a posting without being able to see the property. But, here's a ridiculously long answer to a short question:

The landlord was very enthused about getting us into the space and made our initial rent almost too atractive to pass up. He even waived the security deposit and expressed how excited he was to find such cool tenants. Everything was copacetic and all parties were super excited. One thing to note, however, is that the owner, who by trade is an "Unpublished Author" (meaning he sits secluded at home and writes but has never had anything published), received the property as an inheritance from his family. This building and the one behind it are his only sources of income, which will come into play later in the story.

The property we rented is stand alone building that was originally a 1929 Sinclair, single pump, corner gas station. The pump has been long removed and the small triangle of pavement in front of the store is one of our three parking spaces (the other two being on the sides of the building). There is plenty of parking in the center of the town square, but occasionally folks do park in our spaces. No prob. The city requires that the landlord provide us three spaces in accordance with the retail zoning requirements.

Anyway, the whole thing kind of went south the week before we opened. Our landlord came to me to ask if we would make sure we paid our rent on time. This was a bit strange, as we had already paid him for the current month's rent. He explained that his health insurance and property taxes were going to be due in January and he was counting on our promptness to maintain his cash flow. I promptly wrote him a check for the following month's rent just to show him that Leslie and I wanted to be exemplary tennants. (I assumed this was a really cool gesture but was unaware of the precident it established.)

Well, we had an excellent Grand Opening with the landlord as our very first customer as we unlocked the doors. Since we didn't have any signage yet, we had taped a couple small American flags to the door frame to make the shop look friendly and attract attention. (Some of you saw the pics Leslie posted of the storefront.) The landlord seemed really pleased with what we had done so far and congratulated our opening.

With our meager budget, we tried to dress up the front area as much as we could with what we already owned, so we put a small park bench outside under the window to the right of the door. All of the shops on the square have benches out front, and even though nobody ever sits on them, it makes the square look warm and inviting. The Old Downtown Carrollton Association also provided us (and all the other retailers) with two large planters, to create a sense of uniformity between all the stores.

Out of the blue the following Tuesday, I received a perturbed call from our landlord telling me that "we have to talk". He claimed that he had never given us permission to put anything in front of the store and that he would need to charge us an additional 50% per square foot of what we pay for the building per square foot if we wanted to use the cement area in front. After some discussion, he came to me with a proposal that said he would rent us the space in front of the building for an additional $200/month IF we not only signed a six month lease renewal but also paid him NOW an additional $1500 in security deposits and rental fees for the new lease, which wouldn't take effect until next February. (In other words, he was trying to increase his current cash flow by charging us several months in advance for a new lease, and tacking on additional charges for the parking space in front of the store, which by law he is required to let us use when we rent the property, and which he has no problem with giving us free of charge if we actually put a car there.) He did, however, say that we could put a sandwich board sign out front, which was something he had originally suggested before we moved in and later conveniently forgotten.

Well, I had our attorney check our lease and he said there were no restrictions either in the lease or the city ordinance with how we are to use our parking spaces. Leslie had just finished painting a super-cool 4'x4' sandwich board that says "Come in, we're OPEN!", and we put it out front of the store, along with a small PA speaker playing big band music. (We also put a few products on top of the speaker to display some merchandise.) I made sure to check with all the other shopkeepers if the music was okay by them, and they all said they LOVED it and that it added life to the square. Everyone was super happy, and we were finally attracting some shoppers.

A couple days later, I arrive at the shop to find the American flags torn down off the door and thrown onto the sidewalk. I called the local police to report that we'd had some vandalism, since I assumed our landlord would have called me if he had any issue with the property. I received a voicemail from our landlord later that afternoon saying that he had taken the flags down and that we were prohibited from putting any flags on or around the store (including something as innocuous as an American flag on a makeshift pole in a bucket out front). He also said we had to remove the bench until we had our attorney draw up a "hold harmless" agreement for him and his lawyer to review.

After numerous attempts over two days, I could not reach our landlord on the phone. When we finally connected, we scheduled a time to meet, but 20 minutes later, he showed up at the shop unannounced. The first words out of his mouth as he passed the PA speaker were, "We'll have none of this." Shortly thereafter, he proceeded to grab the merchandise we had on top of the speaker and throw them into the store. He then dragged the sandwich board and the PA inside. I asked him three times to stop touching our property and when he refused, I called the cops.

The police were very nice and told me in confidence that they'd had a few run-ins with this property owner. Other shopkeepers later shared with us that he was known to be something of a bully, and also a bit on the "peculiar" side. Since the dispute was really a civil and not a criminal matter, the police said they couldn't do anything unless damage was actually done. However, they strongly encouraged the owner to leave our stuff alone. They also told him that if he felt we were truly in violation of our lease, he could start eviction processes, which he promptly announced he would do.

We did receive a certified letter from him yesterday, which was not to initiate eviction proceedings but simply to reiterate that (in his mind) we were in violation of our lease agreement since we had only rented the inside of the building. Our attorney assures us that we're not violating the lease, since we are granted full use of the parking space and it does not specify that we have to use it for a car. He also stated that putting a sign out front is expected and reasonable use of the space, because the general public would otherwise have no way of knowing that we're a retail store and open for business.

So, that's where we're at. I hope I didn't bore everyone to tears with this long posting. Your thoughts are really appreciated, and your moral support means a lot to us. All of our neighbors have told us that they stand by us 100%, and several have offered to sublet us space in their shops if we have to move. For now, we're just trying to walk through this craziness and hope the storms pass quickly.

A la famiglia!
-Craig "Big T" Thompson

 

[MK]

I am SO sorry to hear of this crazy situation. I hope that this guy will take his medicine and come to his senses.

My thinking is that that if it were me....I would look to move. Someone who is that nutty is probably going to get worse. Besides....you don't want to advertise an address then switch. It would be better in invest in a place that you know you are going to stay at.

The good thing is that you didn't have to lay out as much as most landlords usually ask.

I will pray for justice.

 

[up196]

Sounds to me like someone offered him more for after he leased to you, and the only way to break your lease is to make it so unpleasant for you that you'll want to leave.

The downside is, some people just don't know when they've lost fair and square, so even if you and your lawyer tough it out, the landlord may always feel he "lost" unfairly and sit around spending his idle time thinking up new ways to f*... er ... mess with you. In the mean time you're trying to deal with running a new business and don't have idle time to sit around thinkong about ways to counter what he comes up with.

In this case, you may consider losing the battle (by moving) in order to win the war (having your business succeed), and not tying up your efforts and money (as in lawyer fees) fighting the inevitable.

For what it's worth . . . Tom

 

[PADDY]

Starting your own business is stressful enough...

Being in business for yourself is stressful enough, without having to use up your energy on this guy.

This is a real shame, as your business neighbours sound really supportive. But the last thing you need at this early stage of the game is having to put your time and resources into fending off this strange guy.

I know that after finding what you thought was a 'wee' gem of a place, you don't want to be searching again, as it is hard work! but on the positive side of the things, better to realise this early on that this is not the dream spot you had hoped for, count your losses and move onto the right place that will appreciate you

The great thing about you two is that you are a partnership, and have strength is being an item, so you can support each other through this little blip! I know you don't need this mess right now, there never is a good time, but hopefully you can move on from it.

I am so, so sorry that this uneccessary 'agro' has happened in your lives. We are all thinking of you!

Your friend (in the mask!)...

 

[Renderking Fisk]

It helps if we point people your way to your On-Line store... and you built that up aspect of your buisness. I know it's hard cause you're so busy this time of year.

What ever set this guy off, who cares? The fact is, he's making things hard for you folks and he has a crazy streak, I'm worried about him becoming dangerous.

 

[BellyTank]

Comeuppance!

Your Krazee Landlord reminds me of my Krazee neighbour I once had- he used to do all kinds of krazee stuff to annoy us- thought he had some special privelege and could just do whatever.
It was some kind of sicko suburban psychological warfare(unintentional alliteration) One day, I came home from work and he'd removed our garden hedge- all 225 feet of it- he said it was on his property and he could do it- he couldn't because it marked a communal property boundary- but above that, we discovered, it's position was actually 2 ft on our side. Due to this, him building all manner of monstrosities and conducting various projects in heavy construction on his property without permits and whilst a sickness welfare beneficiary and not able to "work" and all the other krazee krap he did, we started legal action- months and months of psychological drama and at that time we were planning a 6 mth trip overseas. We ended up cancelling the legal action due to the timing and the stress. But he got his come-uppance. We arrived back after our vacation to find that he was recently divorced, his house had been demolished, and he was living in a shelter. I heard in the last year he's been institutionalised...
Come-uppance indeed...

If things don't suddenly make a miraculous turn-around, you Kats should cut yer losses and scram.
Don't worry, if he's just plain ordinary evil sicko, like my neighbour was-
he'll get what he deserves...

BT.

 

[MDFrench]

I'm absolutely irked to no end to hear about this. Leslie and you are fine people and Leslie has treated me with nothing short of kindness.

Where does this guy get off going manic on you two? Too bad this isn't the 1930s or 40s, b/c after a display like that you could have thumped his skull a bit. Back then, you had a lesser chance of getting sued.

In any case, I hope you both find a better situation and leave this guy to his crazy time. I don't know how he sleeps at night.

Here's hoping he drinks a lot tonight and drives home real fast.

Mike

 

[Pyroxene]

Originally posted by Big-T
I was up all night with Leslie in tears begging me to not open back up because she was afraid of this kook coming back out with a shotgun or something.

If that's the case, I highly suggest getting a Concealed Handgun License.

http://www.txdps.state.tx.us/administration/crime_records/chl/chlsindex.htm

Of course, you don't need a CHL to carry a shot gun. You can keep it in the back of your car or truck window.

Just my $0.02,
Pyroxene

 

[ITG]

You know, this guy doesn't know when he's actually being blessed...to have great tenants as you two. When y'all reopen shop, let us know. I would like to come visit the shop and show any support I can.

 

[Big-T]

For the Moment we are going to stick out our lease through Jan 31st.

Since this guy is obviously in the financial straights, I do not beleiev he will really attemp an eviction that #1 he cannot win, and# that would have him lose tenants for December and January. These two months are notoriously difficult to lease anything.

Right now my biggest concern is having the store open and ran by a part timer while we are in Germany for our honeymoon . We leave next Wednesday, and just worry about him playing games while we are gone.

A dear friend of our from Japan did "ALL" of her Christmas shopping on our Online store today which is so appreciated.

MD French, Leslie told me to tell you how much she appreciated you comments.

Renderking, Bro. you are the best.

Paddy, your offline note to Leslie made her cry you big lug.

MK, as always, You da Man.

A la famiglia!
-Craig "Big T" Thompson

 

[The Bingstress]

You know, my hubby makes me sound as though I burst into tears at the drop of a hat! (Okay, so I cry at Kodak commercials. And those cotton commercials. And pretty much anytime I see a baby on TV.) Anyway, I admit that I've been known to mist up while reading the great emails we've received from folks in the Fedora Lounge expressing their love and support while we walk through this nonsense with our landlord, and I wanted to send a personal thanks.

As I just wrote in a note to Pen Collector, in a way, this whole crisis has been a tremendous blessing, since it has brought us closer to people with whom we'd otherwise only have a passing acquaintance. I feel like we have a new host of friends with whom we can share our struggles and triumphs, and who can also count on us to offer the same kind of encouragement in good times and bad.

Right now, it looks like we might move into the historic Plaza Theatre right next door to our current shop when our lease is up. The 1940s theater has been converted into an artists' gallery and features a stage flanked by red velvet curtains and a small seating area at the very front. The owners plan to put up a series of productions, starting with a one-act musical based on a 1940s Radio Show. (Talk about synergy.) They have offered to let us sublease space in the lobby in the front of the theater, which might be a perfect fit for our needs. Nothing is set in stone yet, and I can't say that we'll be thrilled to move after spending so much time and resources building out our current location. But it would certainly be comforting to be welcomed with open arms by people who share our creative spirit and passion for the past.

We will of course keep you all posted as the saga continues. Thank you to everyone for even bothering to read about our travails, much less sending such thoughtful personal notes in reply. We are very grateful to be part of such a classy and compassionate community and look forward to meeting more Fedora Lounge members online and in person in the weeks and months to come!

Hugs & blessings,
The Bingstress

 

[LuckyLighter]

Although I've only been a member here for a mere week, I've enjoyed the posts and thread you both have created on this board--and for the record, your website ROCKS! There is a lot of material I have yet to explore on Retro Radar, and I look forward to the magazine back issues I ordered. I hope everything works itself out for you, and my prayers are with you guys.

 

[LaMedicine]

Right now, it looks like we might move into the historic Plaza Theatre right next door to our current shop when our lease is up.

Wow, what a circle!
The Plaza's the backdrop of Big T & The Bada-Bings "Born to be Wild" CD jacket!

Nothing takes place that has no meaning, there is always a silver lining to every cloud.
Whatever seeds your landlord has planted, with the strong partenership and love you and Craig have for each other, any evil that you encounter is bound to turn into a basket load of good.

Keep your chin up, your head high, stick to your guns, and above all, keep that lovely smile on your beautiful face, always, and the sun will come out shining for you.

My prayers for you two.

 

[SHARPETOYS]

Lord, make me an instrument of Your peace.

Where there is hatred let me sow love;

Where there is injury, pardon;

Where there is doubt, faith;

Where there is despair, hope;

Where there is darkness, light; and

Where there is sadness, joy.
-St. Francis of Assisi


Its hard to do but worth trying.

 

[Pastor Bill]

I just got word that I'll be in Dallas later this month for a conference. Have you found a new place for your shop? I might be able to get away one afternoon, it would be fun to stop by.

-Bill

 

[Brad A. Cox]

All that before your honeymoon. You have have a much calmer temper than I do. I would have snapped like a twig and kicked the guys butt. Thats just me though. God love ya for not doing it. God help me because I know that I would have. Good luck my friend.