A new ladies home decor and clothing co-op has opened in the former Paper Gallery space at 318-A Edgewater Drive (MAP) called Annabelle Hart. It contains three small businesses:
- Annabelle Hart (Shirley Krauklis)
- Blue Betty (Carey Ferrante)
- Details, Inc (Marnie Rutters)
What happened at The Shoppes that made these 3 ladies leave? Rutters told us the Shoppes was a co-op but not really. They had designated spaces that weren't integrated with the other areas but eventually things got "unprofessional."
The first of the three to give their notice to vacate was Ferrante. The other two followed suit soon after.
The day before her annual sidewalk sale, Rutters let The Shoppes' owners know she was going into business with the other two ladies and was leaving The Shoppes. The Shoppes' owners changed the locks to the store. Rutters was unable to conduct her annual sidewalk sale because all the merchandise was locked inside The Shoppes.
The Shoppes of College Park opened in late August 2015. It closed on July 22nd when the three left. The owners, Jim and Silvia Lakey, made it clear in their closing announcement on their Facebook page that the closing was the fault of Krauklis, Ferrante and Rutters:
"Three of our existing vendors have decided that they will be replicating this concept on their own four doors down in the old Paper Gallery location. With this new and direct competition so close to our store, we have decided that the Shoppes of College Park can no longer survive under this concept."
As to why the three chose to open up shop four doors down from The Shoppes, Carey says they "looked all over town" and across the street to find the right spot, but they just couldn't find one. Plus, the three wanted to stay near College Park because their clients lived in the area.
Carey said the three got the former Paper Gallery space because Sue, the owner, retired. The landlord had wanted Krauklis to be part of his landlord group "forever." She says the landlord wrote them a deal they could not refuse and even paid for and executed the entire build out of the store in three weeks. He really wanted to continue Annabelle Hart and liked the idea of having three businesses in one.
After the three business owners left The Shoppes, Jim and Sylvia Lakey closed it. They announced today that they will reopen on Thursday of this week.
