NORFOLK, Va. – The Attic at East Beach announced on Thursday that it will be closing in June due to a dramatic rent increase. The news has loyal customers shocked.
“She’s a small business. Give her some time. You don’t go up 60% with somebody’s rent and say 'Get out next month,’” said customer Dyteya Lewis. “I wish she could stay.”
Owner Angel Sharples says the owner of the property wants to increase the rent an additional $1,300 a month, which is too much for her small business.
“At that amount of rent increase, there’s no way that we could sustain being here,” said Sharples, who added that commercial businesses are asked to sign a 3-5 year lease.
Sharples is searching for another place to rent but so far, says the prices she’s seeing aren’t affordable.
Meanwhile, in Virginia Beach, a similar style shop called Cottage LunaSea is closing Saturday, April 16.
“For us, we just could not catch up from COVID. We were closed for those ten weeks and didn’t have any sales,” explained owner Jennifer Greer.
Cottage LunaSea’s website will remain active, and Greer said she plans to offer mobile crafting workshops.
