Fundraiser organized to save Auntie Te’s consignment shop

Kerry Creason (left) and Theresa Cizmar at Auntie Te’s.

Like so many small businesses, Auntie Te’s consignment shop has been struggling during the pandemic.

Longtime friend and customer Janene Corrado organized a fundraiser to help save the business. Donations can be made on GoFundMe.

Theresa Cizmar opened the boutique in 1991 in Annandale. It was based in the Bradlick Shopping Center for 10 years before she relocated to 2931 Eskridge Road behind the Mosaic District in Merrifield in 2017.

Corrado describes Auntie Te’s as a place customers count on to “find a treasure, an affordable Gucci bag – or to shed a tear with Theresa when life throws you a curveball . . . and you need “a little retail therapy.”

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During the first COVID-19 surge, Auntie Te’s closed from March until the beginning of June. The landlord of the small retail strip gave tenants three months forbearance on rent, but that expired Dec. 31, and now Cizmar has to pay it all back plus interest and fees for common area maintenance.

Auntie Te’s features a large selection of accessories.

The store’s lease doesn’t expire for another year-and-a-half. “So even if there are no customers, you have to keep the store going,” she says. “It’s very stressful.”

She had to let two employees go; the store is now run by Cizmar, her daughter Kerry Creason, and one employee who helps out on Saturdays.

Cizmar applied for but failed to qualify for federal assistance under the Paycheck Protection Program but did get a small grant from Fairfax County.

“If I make it through the pandemic, I’m going to be fine,” Cizmar says. She just needs enough help to stay afloat until spring, when the pandemic should be winding down.

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Meanwhile, sales have plummeted. “January and February are notoriously bad,” Cizmar says. In a normal year, the store makes enough money in November and December to make it through the whole year. But shoppers stayed away in droves during the holiday season. “Every time the media talks about a big surge, we’re dead.”

Cizmar is concerned about so many small businesses going out of business, while the big companies are getting bailed out. “It’s infuriating to me. Small business is what this country is made of.”