Meet the New Neighbors

Recently, Video Library closed its 5,000 square foot store and moved to another, smaller shop (just 900 square feet). Even though the new store is in the same shopping plaza — just two doors down from the original location — all too many people were walking up to the old store and drawing the erroneous conclusion that, instead of moving, Video Library had closed.

To help, we put a series of signs in the old store windows: “Video Library is open! Please visit our new location two doors down.” The signs were very effective; months after the move, people were still spotting them, wandering into the new store, and saying, “Hey! When did you guys move?”

So, as I said, the signs worked very well … until our new neighbor — the tenant signing on to occupy our previous space — yanked them down.

Just to make things clear: the new tenant hasn’t occupied the old Video Library space. No construction work has begun. The store hasn’t been reconfigured to meet the new tenant’s needs. In fact, the electricity hasn’t even been turned on. The store’s been vacant for months … and still is.

Even so, more than a month ago (the day after our new neighbor signed the lease), the new tenant popped into Video Library, approached the counter, and told an employee, “You need to tell you boss that, if he wants those signs to stay up in my windows, he’s gonna have to pay me.”

Now, certainly, after someone leases a space, he or she has the right to do whatever he or she wants to do with it. Still, demanding rent for window signs in a store you don’t plan to move into for months doesn’t strike me as the best way to start a relationship.

When we declined to pay, he yanked the signs down. In addition, he also went out into the shopping center’s common area — space he doesn’t rent or control — and yanked down Video Library’s “We’re Open!” banner. Big vinyl banners don’t exactly come cheap, and when we order them, we do so with an eye toward using them again and again. We won’t have that opportunity with the “We’re Open!” banner, though … because our new neighbor removed it and disposed of it without asking anyone.

As a result, if and when the new shop opens for business, I doubt I’ll be spending much time in the place, which we understand will be a “self-assembly meals” sort of place, very much like Super Suppers. It’s a shame; I’m in the target market for that kind of business, and could have been a frequent customer and strong supporter.

But … it’s probably for the best that I’ll never get attached to it. The ill-tempered owner’s previous property mysteriously burned down — not once, but twice in a row …. within a span of 108 days … in a building widely regarded as fireproof.

Work still hasn’t begun on his new place. Even so, I figure it’s high time to make sure our own fire insurance premiums are paid up and in good order.