Pet store facing eviction reaches out to the community
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| Chico’s owner Danielle Areco speaks at a community meeting at the store. |
More than 30 people came to a community meeting at Chico’s Natural Pet Market in Barcroft Plaza April 25 to discuss strategies for helping the store stay in business.
Chico’s is struggling to remain open in the face of a pending eviction and the withdrawal of its investor.
The owner, Danielle Areco, acknowledges it’s a dire situation, but said, “I’m not going down without a fight.”
“It’s not about me,” Areco said. “It’s about the love I have for your animals. It’s about standing up for those who can’t stand up for themselves.”
In addition to selling organic pet food, pet supplies, and aquarium fish, the store houses rescue cats and hosts adoption events and social events for pets and people. The store also sponsors the popular pet contest at the Taste of Annandale.
Areco opened the store about five years ago as a Pet Depot franchise and rebranded it as an independent store, renamed Chico’s Natural Pet Market, in 2017.
Since then, things have gone reasonably well, and Federal Realty Investment Trust representatives told Areco they were happy with the store – and even agreed to give her a break on the rent to make up for the unexpected withdrawal of her investor.
Then in December 2018, Federal Realty’s vice president of leasing, Rich Abruscato, told Areco the company will not renew the lease after the current five-year lease expires on May 31.
If she doesn’t accept a new month-to-month lease, the store will have to vacate the shopping center on May 31. The rent is $16,000 a month, which Areco says, is much higher than the rent charged to other Barcroft Plaza tenants.
Abruscato did not respond to requests for comment from the Annandale Blog.
Areco is trying to find another investor or partner so Chico’s can stay open and is exploring relocating to another shopping center. She also proposed breaking up the store into two separate properties, so Chico’s would become smaller and Federal Realty could lease the other half to someone else. The company did not respond to that proposal.
Del. Kaye Kory, who attended the meeting, later told Areco that it’s important to retain a small, minority-owned business and promised to help.
Several customers and community members offered some advice at the meeting. One person suggested looking into arbitration options or suing for a renegotiated lease. She said “tenants have certain rights. You can push back.”
Someone else said the community can help by using social media to pressure Federal Realty. “They have a responsibility to the community,” he said.
I love this pet store. They always have good advice and do really care about our community and our pets. Federal Realty are bullies. They tried once before to bully the community with a huge DMV at the site of Glory Days.
Small business is the foundation of communities. When I go into that shop its like we are all family. Federal Realty needs to work on the spaces that are not leased and start becoming a community player instead of the classroom bully.
It's sadly happening to small businesses everywhere…
Big corporate lanlords kicking out the little guys in favor of large chains, whose tax money goes to wherever they are headquartered.
Honestly land lords shouldn't be able to dictate the small business economy like they are right now.
You wonder how those junk furniture and dollar stores keep up with the rent. Couldn't be money laundering. Nope.
This is such sad unfortunate news. I love Chicos and I don’t even have a pet. Chico’s has contributed much to our local community and is a good neighbor.
I am so honored to have been part of your community
I still believe that we can make this work. Thank you all for your support.
I am, please fight with me. I need all the help I can get. I won't give up.
I sure hope that everything works out for Chico’s! Keep fighting Danielle!
This is one of the best pet stores in Northern Virginia. Besides the excellent products, it offers so much help & assistance to pets & their owners. I sure hope the store can be saved.
Wow, asking for that amount of rent is NUTS. Chico's is not only a great local store, they have an adoption center for a local rescue– without a doubt, one the coziest and most humane adoption centers around. As if evicting Chico's would be bad enough, but you'd be evicting 15 adoptable cats as well. For shame, Federal Realty!!
This is terrible news. We've been shopping at Chico's for years. They're one of the only pet stores around that carries quality cat foods that our (very picky) cat will eat, and the pet adoptions they host are first-rate. Plus, the customer service is the best I've seen in the D.C. area. Danielle, please let us know what we can do. We're not rich investors, but if you end up moving to another location, I guarantee we'll be there!
Danielle, keep going no matter what!
Very sad news. Not only does our community lose the best independently owned pet store around but a local animal rescue group will lose this space to try to adopt out cats! The best advice is to move to a new location NOT owned by Federal Realty. They have demonstrated their lack of concern for what is best for the communities they are in. Same thing is happening in the Federal Realty owned Rockville Town Center which has seen business after business close and now has many vacant spaces. We wish you the best at Chico's and will follow you if you move to another location!
This is outrageous! Chicos is an amazing store which provides a tremendous service to our community.
A second community meeting on efforts to save Chico’s Natural Pet Market has been scheduled for May 9, 8 p.m., at the store, 6349-A Columbia Pike,
Will the Fed Realty guy be there so I can punch him out?
We have never defaulted on our lease payment to Federal Realty, and we do not owe any money to them. We have absolutely no debt, and our current lease is 16k.It is a lot already. We were wishing for a lower rent, not an increase. So we suggested reducing the size, and yet have not heard from them.
It sounds like federal realty wants to scalp a woman owned business! I would go to the SBA and get a small business loan as a woman owned business, look into Grant's under a CFDA number in google, get county help, and use facebook as much as possible along with 7 on your side. There is no reason they are overcharging you on rent unless they want you out!
I have a pet and it is very, very fluffy. I think pet stores are quite nice. I like to brush my pet and feed it. Do you have a pet. Do you like it. What is its name. I hope that my pet will be my pet for a few more whiles. It has fur.
You should be able to get a government grant as a female owned business
Chico's is such a great pet shop
I don't know if we're still in the running on this fight to keep CHICO'S alive, but I for one think it's an amazing, refreshingly responsible and progressive pet store, honoring small business efforts while also providing a wonderful platform for rescued homeless kitties to have a much better Fighting Chance for getting adopted in a loving home!!! Have a heart – gone summer flexibility to this good store ?♥️?