Another sad Victim of the recession...

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PeterUK_IHB

PeterUK_IHB

New member
I keep hearing about Friends being hurt badly in this recession, here's one example, Ladera Cyclery which was owned by one of the nicest Guys I've ever met. He has a genuine love for Cycling and treated all His Customers like Family. He hosted local events and ran a shop team which I rode with regularly when I lived in Laguna Niguel. I was talking to a Friend who lives in Ladera and She heard today there were 10 Stores closing in this Plaza...

From the OC Register:

The store was forced to shut its doors after learning on Thursday that the property management company, Westar Associates, had filed a lawsuit to recover unpaid rent.

Owner Jeff Davis, 36, received a pay-or-quit notice from Westar in February, warning the shop owner to pay his back rent or risk legal action.

Davis, a Ladera resident, said he was unable to pay the $16,000 rent in full for the 3,150-square-foot space in a recession that cut heavily into his revenues. Sales in the first quarter of 2009 were down 70 percent from 2008.

 more...
 
Sad, very... very sad... that another local small business is being forced out of business by the Kool-Aid drinking commercial RE people like Westar. Good job on Westar's part, they could have renegotiated the lease at a rate that Jeff could afford, but instead they chose to kick him out and have vacant space that gets the $0 dollars month after month after month. Good job Westar, in case you haven't read the news in the WSJ, or the reports from Voit, Grubb Ellis, or CBRE, you just bent over and stuck a giant dildo up your ass. Fantastic, you just killed a small business in this economic environment when you need them the most. I hope for your sake that your greed will BK you. Too bad Westar isn't public, because we at IHB would short the f'ing sh*t out of you. Oh... and in case you were not aware. Ladera has as many foreclosures as Santa Ana and Anaheim... no wait... they are worse when you factor in owner occupied homes. I would help you economically, but my fees are steep, and I require cash... something you obviously don't have.
 
Thanks Graph!!

I feel really sorry for Jeff, dreams die hard.

I would really like to understand why Westar would rather kill a small Business than give them a break, they could have given Him a couple of free months, re-negotiated or at least done something. I know I'm repeating what you said but all he needed was a month or so to get into the busy summer season, now is a time that People start buying Bikes, getting old ones tuned up and repaired etc.

When I bought my Bike from Him he and his mechanic stayed at the shop until 10pm putting it together so I could ride it on the shop ride the next morning. He employed several young People, all with a passion for Cycling and when you walked into the shop it was obvious that they couldn't do enough for you.

Now, like you said, the Shop will sit empty for months, then at the end of the Day Westar will have to lower the rent to a more affordable level anyway to get it occupied.

Congratulations Westar, you won!!
 
Could be that Westar did him a favor.

It wasn't just his rent he was behind on he couldn't pay his vendors even though he wasn't paying his rent.

He left a dream and came back to reality and at least he has a job opportunity. Let's just hope he didn't use his home as revolving credit for his business.
 
I like to think it is a new opportunity. He gets to put some money towards any debt he owes. If he decides to go to a different place, guess what? He gets a DEEEP discount over what he was paying. Probably even a better place. Anyways good luck

-bix
 
biscuitninja said:
I like to think it is a new opportunity. He gets to put some money towards any debt he owes. If he decides to go to a different place, guess what? He gets a DEEEP discount over what he was paying. Probably even a better place. Anyways good luck

-bix
Click to expand...

Yeah you're right, I guess the trick is not to work 7 days a week just to support the Landlord!!

I guess the good thing to come out of this is that when CRE comes down to more realistic levels more people will beable to go into Business...

I really like the old European model where the small store has living accomodation above so you buy the entire unit and own it eventually, didn't they do this in Aliso Viejo?
 
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