Business & Tech

Business Gets Personal For Trends-n-Treats Owner

Millie Finch finds herself in a legal battle for her business she never saw coming.

Like so many local business owners, Millie Finch always had a dream of opening her own pet boutique business, . However, it appears reality has caught up with that dream. For Finch that reality took the form of corporate competitor, PetCo in the waning months of 2010. Now the first-time business owner finds herself embroiled in a legal debate she may not have imagined in her worst nightmares.

"This was my dream, and I had every right to fullfil it," Finch said.

Tucked away inside the Quail Pointe Shopping Center, Finch had been trying to expand her business in a larger available space – a space Finch’s property manager, Knorr Management represented by Karen Knorr, had told her would be available. That was the understanding; at least, until the management company told Finch the available space had been leased to Unleashed by PetCo - a new corporate subsidiary looking to cash in on the local business market.

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According to its website, Unleashed would offer the same know-how as PetCo, but in "a unique, smaller package."

Finch had signed her lease in 2007 with the understanding she would be allowed to expand her business should she need to. By January of 2010 Finch had been in talks with Voit's exclusive agent to expand Trends-n-Treats into a larger location inside the Quail Pointe Shopping Center.

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“I’d been in talks for months about moving into a larger available space,” Finch said.

After the initial offer to expand, the business owner found her subsequent inquiries going unanswered by Voit, Finch said.

Trends-n-Treats, a pet boutique specializing in premium nutritional pet supplies and grooming services, had been growing steady business, Finch said, when one day two men in suits stopped by her store with cameras and started asking questions about Finch’s business.

Finch described the behavior of the two gentlemen as less than cordial.

“They came in, taking pictures of my displays, being very aggressive in their questioning and not representing themselves at all,” Finch said. “They questioned me about my product brands and gave me scenarios like, 'I have a pound mutt who chews his paws what advice do you have for me?' I felt like I was under attack by questions.”

When Finch asked the gentlemen to what purpose they were putting their inquiries, one of the men became noticeably upset.

“One of the men pointed at an employee who inquired with him before getting me from the back, and in a raised voice the man said, 'like we told her, we’re having lunch at Chili’s and hope that’s alright!'” Finch said.

It was about at this point Finch knew the men had no intention of buying anything.

“But when I watched them leave and walk toward Chili's, they doubled-back and went to the vacant space,” Finch said.

The vacant space being the same one Millie had been trying to reserve for her expansion; the space that Unleashed would eventually procure.

“I’d been inquiring and sending emails to the broker letters to Voit for some time about our need to expand our space in the center,” Finch said.

After her encounter with the two suited gentlemen, Finch sent a letter to a Voit's broker expressing her concern about the encounter. When the broker finally contacted Finch, he said the owner was entertaining an offer to bring in a small dog and cat boutique by Petco into the same center where she operates her small buisness. Finch said all she could think to do was tell the broker to call the owner, let him know she was very upset and if they were bringing in her direct competition to at least let her out of her lease. The broker said he would let the owner know and that he didn’t see a problem with them letting her out of her lease.

“They told me they’d been entertaining an offer from PetCo to introduce a small pet and dog boutique,” Finch said.

The local business owner sent a certified letter to the landlord asking them to confirm they were entertaining an offer from PetCo to introduce a small pet and dog boutique into the center, Finch said.

Finch said her landlord sent her a letter telling her it was true and “she needed to find some synergy with her competition would be good for her.” The Landlord also said there was a misunderstanding and “no, they would not let her out of her lease early.” 

When it was finalized that Unleashed by Petco was moving in, Knorr offered Finch a larger space in the center, Finch said.

Knorr sent the schematics over and explained that the broker would be contacting her with the rental information. A few weeks passed as Finch was pursuing the larger space when she received a call from the landlord’s broker. Finch explained the landord told her he had just noticed in fine print that PetCo had put a clause in their lease restricting Finch from expanding her space in the center.

"He said the reason was 'they don’t want you to succeed them,'” Finch said.  

It wasn’t long after Unleashed by PetCo opened doors in the later part of 2010.

Finch alleges that once Unleashed opened its doors, the business started soliciting Trends-n-Treats customers right outside Finch's place of business.

“There would be someone handing out Unleashed fliers right outside the doors,” she said.

It was around this time Finch was served a letter of cease and desist from Unleashed. Finch explains the letter accused her of rallying her friends and Chamber of Commerce members to harrass Unleashed and accused Finch of posting slanderous remarks on PetCo's website.

“It was becoming clear things were starting to get ugly, fast,” said Teri Stevens, owner of neighboring business, FastFrame.

Finch decided before things got any more out of control it was time to consult legal advice. She went to Karen Goodman. According to Goodman’s website, her firm, Goodman & Associates, specializes in, among other things, real estate, “including negotiations and drafting of documents in commercial and residential real estate and litigation matters.”

Goodman believes Finch’s property management company was acting against the best interests of Finch’s business.

“They shouldn’t have given her false hope and negotiated against her best interests,” Goodman said.

Though it remains to be seen at this point if any civil case will be filed, Goodman will be working to get the cease and desist order revoked.

“It tends to boil down to money,” Goodman said. “The question is, whether the property management company was giving its tenants the opportunity to build sustainable business and it makes it hard for any business to operate when direct competition is allowed to move in next door.”

Goodman expects to have enough information gathered by mid-April to decide whether or not the matter can be resolved without filing a civil lawsuit. A civil case would likely mean a decision would have to be made by a jury of Finch’s peers, Goodman said. The case would likely look at whether Finch was treated properly, taking a look at the lease contract issued and the costs of moving in among other things.

A fundraiser was held last week, hosted by the Fair Oaks Chamber of Commerce in an effort to raise money for Finch’s potential litigation fees, discovery fees, court fees, etc., Goodman said.

“My hope is to keep her business open,” Goodman said. “She would like to keep her business, get out of her lease and ultimately be able to relocate her business.”

Voit Property Management did not respond to media inquiries by the time of publication.


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