09/14/2023
Hey Gang!! Your old friend Jeremy from The Nineteen14 here again. I hope you’ve been well. I wanted to share some information with you because I know there have been some questions.
So, where do I start. After the back and forth with the city last year they decided not to renew our lease and lease the building to someone else. Fine. We fulfilled our lease obligation peacefully and respectfully.
As the transfer was happening we were able to make a deal with the new tenant to buy our stuff (furniture, fixtures, sign, etc) on contract. Fine.
The new tenant opened for business in January of 23. By June/July we reached out to the Mayor because our contract was not being fulfilled by the current tenant. Our question to him at the time was “is the tenant in good standing with you?” He told us he was unable to discuss the matter with us. Fine.
Instead of shuttering the business at that point we decided to allow the new tenant to hopefully “get caught up” on payments to us. (Of course money was a factor, still hoping that we would get paid rather than having to go repossess our things) Fine.
A week ago yesterday I was informed through the grapevine that the tenant was being evicted by the city. We tried to contact the mayor, the tenant and even Dallas County sheriff (to see if eviction papers had been served) to no avail. The mayor wouldn’t tell us, the tenant wasn’t returning calls and the sheriff didn’t have any information (assuming the papers were served in another county at a home address). Fine.
A week ago today I was informed by another person that there were people in the building “moving stuff out”. I decided to go to Minburn to see for myself. When I arrived it was just the tenant and some employees boxing up some stuff. The mayor arrived about 5 minutes after me to inform me that I was not allowed in the building, knowing full well that I was concerned about my belongings still in their building. Some words were exchanged (full disclosure I did call him a clown and a small person). The sheriff was called and after much debate and discussion I was ask to leave by the deputies because they didn’t want to get involved with who’s stuff was who’s. I left peacefully, again. Fine.
The city has not allowed us back into the building to inventory or remove our stuff since then. We are being told that it will be moved outside today where we can pick it up, as if we are the ones being evicted. So today is the last chapter for The Nineteen14 as we had envisioned it back in early 2016. We paid our bills and ran an honest business there for 6+ years. They wanted someone new. He lasted 8 months. Small business is hard. I’m not asking for sympathy, just letting you fine folks know what we know. Almost a year after our last day of business we are still spending time and money on this. Fine.
We will be there at 4:30 today (Thursday, Sept 14 2023) to receive our stuff and film and document any items damaged or missing as our only recourse for accountability in the future. If you want to come out and lend a hand or video the process (someone bring me a beer!) we will be there, probably smiling and probably shaking our heads. Fine.
This will probably (hopefully) be our last transmission as The Nineteen14. Once again we want to thank you for all of your support over the years.
What a mess. Here’s to fond memories and better days!
