After four years of doing everything from depleting her savings to having her house foreclosed so she could stay in business, Posh Paw owner Wendy Haskins thought things were looking up. More customers have been dropping by her Wilmington Drive store and the revenue is up. In fact, Haskins said that business in July was up 40 percent from last year. Any celebrating for Haskins has been short-lived, however. Due to more than $55,000 in back rent owed to DuPont Station Partners, the business is being forced to close or re-locate. Haskins, who admits to owing the back rent due to negotiations she made last year with DuPont Station Partners to make partial rent payments on the space, is very upset about having to leave town.
“I don’t want to leave DuPont. I have some wonderful customers here. And I have sacrificed so much to finally get here. Business is good and my numbers are up. This isn’t what I wanted to happen,” Haskins said.
“It is absolutely disgusting what they are doing. They are all big business people with jets. I’m just a small business owner trying to make it. I’m not moving. They will have to evict me,” she said.
In August 2009, Haskins said she negotiated with her landlord (DuPont Station Partners and Neil Walter Company) to pay $2,000 in lieu of her more than $3,500 a month payment with the stipulation that she would go back to paying her full rent as well as pay all back rent in a “reasonable amount of time.” She said that agreement was not finalized until October 2009 when the landlord signed it. Haskins said when she received a call from Property Manager Herb Brooks of Neil Walter Company in late May letting her know that she needed to start backing her full rent again and clear her debts, she was ready to try and do so. She claims that she was never given the chance, though. Haskins said she made a $4,000 payment in July but then was served 10 days later with a Pay or Vacate notice.
Wendy Haskins, owner of Posh Paw, meets with a pet supply distributor.
“I don’t understand,” she said.
Haskins supplied the Clipper with e-mails she and her attorney received from Brooks. In the e-mails, Brooks disputes Haskins’ claims that the amendment waives her obligations to pay full rent and triple net charges.
“The amendment modified the Permitted Use allowing your client to start grooming services and permitted the grooming services to continue as long as minimum payments were made…. Your contention that the lease amendment modified the rental amount due is not correct,” Brooks wrote in the e-mail. Brooks also claimed that Haskins had not paid $2,000 per month from August 1, 2009 through the end of June. In his e-mails, he wrote that she had only made eight $2,000 payments during the 11 month time period.
Haskins denies missing any payments.
Mike Rabstoff, a managing member of DuPont Station Partners, said everything boils down to having to make a business decision.
“Her sales have been slow. We’ve afforded her tens of thousands of dollars in arrears. We’ve been more than generous. We have not pressed for payback in arrears. She is significantly behind and has (accrued) a large debt. We have to look at reality. It is unrealistic to think she will be able to pay it back,” Rabstoff said.
“It is unfortunate that the Posh Paw isn’t doing as well as we would all have liked. I wish that she would have done better. We wish her luck,” he said.
Haskins is convinced that the company wants the space for another business. Rabstoff would not comment if there were plans for a particular business to occupy the space once the Posh Paw is closed. He did say, however, that the company’s brokers are always working to keep the spaces occupied.
As for Haskins, she’s not quite sure what her next step is in regards to her business. Her hope is to move the Posh Paw to Lakewood.
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