I moved to Saugerties and opened the business in 2019 with the goal of setting down routes. I wanted to become part of a community and Saugerties seemed to be friendly, welcoming, and promising. Seemed being the key word here. 190 was the first space I was in, and I started out as consignment. I filled a 1500 sq. ft. space using only my own personal items; I’ve been in fashion in some way for a really long time so it wasn’t difficult to do. ***I had no savings, no loans, no credit cards, and no cash flow.*** But I believed in myself and felt confident given my many years of experience. The only money I had was the cash that I used to pay for a full year’s rent up front - rent gives me an extraordinary amount of anxiety. It is the single most important thing to me and I have always paid it early or multiple months at a time if I have the ability.

When I initially looked at the space the building was for sale. Before making the decision to take the space, I spoke to my then Landlord and I was assured that they would not be selling the property, and the sign was taken down. I decided to take the space. I moved in on October 1st and began painting and putting fixtures up, many which were built from scratch by yours truly. I had to do everything I could to outfit the store without spending any money. I finally opened on December 1st.

About 6 weeks later, Dallas and Ted Gilpin and their sticky kids who ran wild came into the store with a real estate agent to look at the space. Nobody bothered to call me and let me know or ask if it was ok, and they did this during business hours. I asked Dallas, and I quote, “Are you buying the building?” To which she replied, “No.” Less than a week later the building was sold to them, shortly after which they started doing construction on the property, all day, every day, to the point that it made it impossible for me to conduct business. My entire parking lot was filled with construction vehicles, they were throwing sheetrock, garbage and debris from the second story window into the parking lot, I walked into the store one day and there was a disgusting, filthy washcloth hanging out of a hole in the ceiling that I had just painted and was left there for 2 weeks - which also meant someone had let themselves in while I was not there which, as any human on earth who has been a renter knows is a big fat no-no - the back room (SURPRISE!) leaked and ruined a bunch of merchandise - I told them, they did not care - and they were using tools that were so loud the entire building vibrated all day. Customers who walked in walked right back out. (I don’t blame them.) It said in the lease that if at any point construction took place in the unit above me it would be after business hours. The people working there were there every day before me and left at the same time I did. 

I ended up having to get an attorney involved because they did not care that they were making it impossible for me to run my (brand new) business. They had their attorney treat me as though I was a huge corporate conglomerate, and tried to fuck me every way that they could. Since I paid a full year’s rent upfront they were in no rush to smooth anything out, and it ended up taking 2 more months for me to leave. I ended up getting six months of rent back, even though I had just painted the entire space which was 1500 ft.², and couldn’t be open for a large portion of that time. I had installed a new door and they would not let me take that door with me. They fought me on taking my door with me. They fought me on moving expenses. They fought me on everything. And if I had had the financial resources to pay for an attorney like the one they had, I would’ve kept fighting. But I didn’t. In fact, it is the one thing I have needed that I have not had the ability to get because by the time I realize I need one — I’m broke.