06/06/2024
Hey Fermenators 😓
You may have read this elsewhere, but I have yet to post this on Fb. We have a bit of news to share, so I’ll cut to the chase. It has been a tough time for your local fermentery. In late April 2024, we received some bad news: The building we lease commercial space from was sold, and the new property owners wanted to get rid of all existing tenants. For context, the building was listed for sale at the beginning of this year. This wasn’t a complete surprise — my landlord had been communicative of wanting to sell a little before listing, so I knew this was a possibility.
When the building was listed in mid January, it was made clear in the listing verbiage that there was an existing, long-standing tenant that wished to stay. Once several people had looked at the property and exchanged supportive words, we were feeling confident that, 1. A potential buyer would want to keep St. Pete Ferments in the building, seeing as we’d been a long-standing and reliable tenant, and 2. We would likely have time over the summer to figure things out and plan while the building continued to be shown, seeing as it had been listed quite recently.
Unfortunately, neither of those wound up being the case. Our landlord found a buyer by mid-April, and the incoming owners made it explicitly clear that, as part of the deal, they wanted no tenants. We were never given a reason why, nor had the new owners spoken to us throughout this tumultuous time. We have been on a month-to-month agreement at this space for six years, which can have its pros and cons. In this scenario, our lease term was a major disadvantage.
At that point in April, we were given 75 days to vacate — 45 days to close, and an added 30 days only because my landlord fought for us to have the added time -- I am super grateful to her for that. This was also despite my landlord being pressured to close by the new owners as soon as possible. 75 days was technically enough time to at least try and find a new space, but it felt like no time at all.
It’s important to keep in mind that this news directly affects more than just St. Pete Ferments — Josh and Rebekah Harris of Queen and Colony Bee Company are impacted as well. They are permitted at our establishment to bottle honey, which is a vitally important aspect of their business. They have been in business since 2015 and work extremely hard for their family of nine. I consider them not only a strong link in our local foodshed, but also amazing friends. It absolutely crushed me to know that this development was going to have an impact on them.
At first, we were feeling extremely hopeless. We immediately started looking for space with our real estate agent, Jenna Watkins Malowany). She was on the case immediately and tackled what felt like the impossible.
The good news: With Jenna’s help, we found a great space and signed a lease at the end of May. We’ll be sharing this new space with Queen & Colony as well! We’ll be closer to downtown/uptown area, which will be more convenient for those who have been wanting something outside of market weekend for customer pickups.
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It’s not news that small businesses already face major challenges, and this exact scenario is by no means unique to just us. But I can’t stress what a close call it was. Had another couple of weeks gone by, had one card fallen out of place, I could have been forced to share a very different outcome with you all.
So how can you help? To start, you can send us some encouraging words — it goes a long way! You can also help by picking up a few things from us at the Saturday Morning Market. And if you believe in what we’re doing and have the means to go further than that, then we have a fundraiser happening with some really cool incentive packages (check that here🔗:
https://www.stpeteferments.com/support-our-relocation)
This is all a double-edged sword with summer coming up — we’ll have more time to nest in the new space, but we’ll also be missing the extra revenue needed to bridge the gap.
All the fundraising information and incentive tier details are on our website, along with the costs associated with this move. It’s tough to ask for donations, because we never have. But between the relocation itself and taking care of our team — these costs are unprecedented. There are great perks for any level of donation, including a limited kombucha bottle release, custom risograph prints, Future Pass, a farm style dinner, and more.
You don’t always get to decide when you’re going to be pushed out of the nest… but here we are. I want to thank you all for your patronage over the past eight years. We have the best community we could ask for. And that’s all thanks to you! Let’s keep local food alive!
TLDR:
• building we lease space from sold within a short timeline, & tenants are being forced to leave.
•Fortunately, we found a new location in record time to share with Queen & Colony.
•This transition was both sudden and costly — we’ve started a fundraiser with some cool incentives and perks.
https://www.stpeteferments.com/support-our-relocation
