Justice for the Chillicothe Craft Mall Vendors!

Hello all, my name is Sarah Richter and I am the new Owner of the Chillicothe Craft Mall! In addition to owning the Chillicothe Craft Mall, I have also owned A Touch of Charm Mercantile for three years!

Approximately 8 weeks ago I received an invitation to attend a floral sale that was being held by the previous owner; little did I know, the owner had ulterior motives for reaching out to me. Upon meeting with the owner, I quickly realized that I had to put an end to the injustice that he was inflicting upon the vendors, community, and the Craft Mall.

You see, this amazing shop has been a staple in our small community since established in 2004 & was well-known as one of the "favorite shops" in our quaint town! The Chillicothe Craft Mall, located at 674 North High Street, has been named a "Must See Destination" when traveling to Chillicothe Ohio because of the wide variety of unique products that are offered by our amazing vendors!

Truth be told, the vendors are the heart and soul behind every successful craft mall as they devote countless hours to creating unique, high-quality products for customers. Many of the vendors are elderly people who are on fixed incomes and rely heavily on the income received from their product sales. In a normal business setting the vendors would be paid bi-weekly, or at the very latest monthly, for their product sales, however, these vendors have been victims of fraudulent injustice that was bestowed upon them by the previous owner. Again, with many of the vendors being on fixed incomes, the sales of their products directly impact not only their quality of life but also their ability to maintain their utilities, gas, food, etc.

Not only did the previous owner wreak havoc on the Craft Mall's reputation, but he also wracked up a mountain of debt for the Chillicothe Craft Mall, destroyed the business credit rating, and fraudulently withheld THOUSANDS upon THOUSANDS of dollars from the vendors because of his gross negligence.

Unfortunately, the injustice endured by the vendors and staff doesn't end their, as numerous financial institutions currently refuse to process any checks written by the previous owner as a result of the checks continually bouncing. The number of bad checks written by the previous owner is so astronomical that numerous financial institutions (including Krogers), refuse to process any checks written by him due to the lack of account funding. Even after this man was taken to small claims court for collections he continued to borrow money from the vendors AND the vendor's spouses without their knowledge to pay the Craft Mall utility accounts; this man's willful misconduct is appalling and simply grotesque.

So I'm sure that by now you're curious as to why the brand-new owner would be setting up a Go Fund Me to request donations. Well, if I may be brutally honest, the answer is that I cannot stand an exploiter, let alone witness elder financial exploitation. As my grandmother has always said, "You can't get blood out of a turnip", and knowing that this disgraceful human being doesn't have the means or intentions to repay his debt is simply unacceptable. The compassion and generosity that the community has shown everyone at the Chillicothe Craft Mall throughout the past 20 years have been invaluable! I come to you today to ask for your continued support in our efforts to reimburse the vendors who have fallen victim to financial exploitation and also help us save The Chillicothe Craft Mall from the financial ruin that the previous owner lead everyone into!

I sincerely appreciate you taking the time to read our fundraiser and ask that you please assist us in making a positive impact at the "New and Just" Chillicothe Craft Mall!