Save Amplify Barber Shop
UPDATE!!! UPDATE!!! Here is an update from Alan & Joanne as of 8/18/21:
"We have had a miraculous turnaround from our landlord, who completely changed their position and decided to negotiate with us! They just offered a new addendum to our lease to reduce the remaining rent owed from COVID, reduced our rent moving forward, and added an option for a lease extension! We are incredibly grateful for this development! We are certain that the support, kind words, and generous donations on our Gofundme showed our landlord how many caring and loyal customers we have, who truly value us being in this community. We cannot thank you all enough for your generosity - thanks to your donations, we are now able to pay our rent balance and stay on in our barber shop, serving our fantastic customers. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!"
Hello Amplify Barber Shop customers, friends, and supporters,
Amplify Barber Shop, aka Las Palmas since 1956, on North Main Street in downtown Walnut Creek needs our help. Many of you have had a haircut, or - if you're like us, most of your haircuts - or have had your kids hair cut at Amplify over the years, since they have been in the same location for 22 years. And if you have, I’m sure you’ve met their sweet dog, Diego, and probably their kids as well. This is a true mom and pop shop.
Ok, here’s the story. Let me start by saying that if nothing changes, Alan and Joanne will be forced to close the doors and either hope to find a new space at great cost, or close their business for good, which would be devastating to their family of 5, and very sad for their loyal customers, many of whom have not had a haircut anywhere else since they starting going to Amplify.
During COVID last year, Amplify was forced to close their shop by state orders for 7 months. Their building owner, Divine Properties 888 LLC (the principal of which lives in Walnut Creek), had made a great offer of significant rent relief during that time - but months later retracted the offer even after Alan and Joanne had been paying the amounts requested. Now the landlord is demanding payment for nearly all months during COVID with minimal rent relief, which is much, much more (about $25,000 more) than Alan and Joanne expected that they would have to pay, and much more than the financial assistance they were granted. They have been working hard to keep their business going but it is a huge amount to pay off, so we are hoping to help them close the gap of this rent bill with this fundraising campaign.
#SmallBusinessRelief
You may be wondering, why did the landlord retract the offer of rent relief for a tenant who has paid rent faithfully every single month for over 22 years?? Well, while COVID was in full swing (around October 2020), the landlord had asked Alan if they could remove his business sign from the building, which is an odd request - a landlord should not remove a business's sign, especially one that had been up for so long. Alan rightfully refused because it is the same sign that has been up for over 66 years, it was in good condition and had historical significance. The landlord then had the sign removed from the building after-hours the very same day, but later had to put it back up (5 months later) since they realized that they should not have removed the sign without permission. The landlord is now resentful that they didn't get their way, and is retaliating against Amplify by retracting the offer for rent relief that they had previously made. Although this is horribly unethical, it is not illegal and they are getting away with demanding the payment. Alan & Joanne made multiple counter offers and pleaded with them but they flatly refused. They even offered to pay the full amount the landlord was requesting but asked for more time to pay it off. The landlord refused this offer as well and insisted they need the entire bill to be paid within one year, in addition to the usual monthly rent.
To add insult to injury, during the time of protests and riots in downtown Walnut Creek in the summer of 2020, Amplify's front window was boarded up negligently when a screw was put in too far and cracked the front window. Alan asked the landlord if he could replace the broken window with an opening window to provide ventilation in line with CDC recommendations, and the landlord said to make propositions of what kind of window Alan wanted. Alan made several suggestions for new windows, and the landlord denied every window design suggested, would not approve or assist with replacing the window, and delayed the process for months, making the shop look like it had closed permanently with no sign above it and plywood over the front window. Alan and Joanne finally gave in and just had the same type of window put in, and had to pay the insurance deductible out of pocket during the worst time of their 22 years in business.
Thank you for reading this and for supporting this family business. #SmallBusinessRelief
This Go-Fund-Me is set up and supported by several of Amplify's loyal customers, to be used for the sole purpose of saving this business.