KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (Story courtesy of WVLT) – Dozens of small business owners filled a parking lot to remove inventory after Painted Tree Boutique gave them one day’s notice that the location would be closing.
Small business owner Jenny Pleasant-Rhodes said her business, Upcycle Gardens, operated inside Painted Tree Boutiques for nearly two years until a message said the building was closing without warning.
“And at first, I thought that we would have, like, our 10 days to have, like, a big sale, and then they would close, and then it was…No, it’s closed,” Pleasant-Rhodes said.
Pleasant-Rhodes said she is out nearly $7,000 in rent and deposits.
Gregg Bostick works closely with small businesses and said the Painted Tree business model can be a smart space for sellers.
“The pros of that business model for the vendors that go into a shared space is they’re paying just for a portion of the square footage in a traffic area that will draw people that are interested in their kind of wares and products they’re selling,” Bostick said.
“And the big con is like we have seen this week. If that parent corporation goes out of business and you have to scramble to find a way to inform your customers and dispel that it’s not you that has gone out of business it’s the space that you’re in to initially,” he said.
Bostick said there is very little chance of recovering prepaid expenses.
“Very little chance of recovering any money that they are owed or any prepaid expenses that they’ve given. Um, it’s, it’s just an unfortunate reality,” he said.
“I think I’ll process that this weekend. Yeah. I kind of refuse to process it yet, that it’s gone. Because I think it would…I think I would cry if I realized…Like, we’ll just…We’ll deal with the plants first,” she said.
Some small businesses said they will start looking into opening their own storefronts.
Painted Tree Boutiques did not respond to a request for comment.
