Another unfortunate retail closing occurred today as Pergola shut their doors for good after only a few short months. I had been hearing rumblings for a over a week now but decided against posting anything to avoid contributing to an issue.
I did speak to those with some knowledge of the situation and I want to be clear that although business had been down the past couple of weeks as the weather turned bad their closing had little to do with community support.
The issues included:
- A 6 month liquour license expiration that required Pergola to be moving toward purchase of their facility. The current land lord would not sell at a market rate and kept them from renewing the license (a key revenue source).
- Land lord issues rear their ugly head again. While business was down some the past two weeks land lord issues forced the closing. To reinforce their belief in the concept and the community they had an agreement to build a large pergola to provide shelter over the patio but the land lord did not approve. Legal action was a consideration but to salvage the investment and avoid frustration they closed the store instead.
I hate sounding like a broken record but until we come up with a solution that provides reasonable lease situations for retailers in Fort Thomas we are running up hill in developing a retail presence in this community. This is at least 4 food service businesses in Fort Thomas that have folded not because of community support but because we have property owners along Fort Thomas Avenue that will not support business.
I want to give a shout out to Debbie Buckly as she did everything she could to keep Pergola open but ultimately it was a business agreement that could not be salvaged. Debbie works very hard for this community but needs more resources and a stronger vision from the city.