Can’t argue with a landlord. He owns the lease.
You pay him what he says or move on, whether renting living, storage, or business space.
Adam Smith, the Moses of American Free Enterprise, gets the same nodding obedience as the guy with the tablets containing the Decalogue.
A talented and industrious young woman named Kristi Martens was forced to move on by her landlord and closed the Beverly Bean coffee shop at 111th & Talman Ave. on the south side of Chicago after three years of profitable stewardship.
Kristi’s business is 650 sq feet of real estate owned by a Developer from Naperville to whom she was ordered to pay $18 per square foot per month on a new lease for her business.
Kristi Martens’ eight employees never missed a pay check; her purveyor’s never missed a payment;her landlord never missed his rent;and her customers never missed her smile,energy, or kindness.
The Beverly Bean Co. has been in existence since 1994 and has been a major part of the West Beverly/Mt. Greenwood area of Chicago. It has only had three owners and the final owner, Kristi Martens, closed the doors on December 31, 2007 after owning the business for three years.
Because the Landlord and Kristi could come to terms on a new lease, she was forced to close the doors. The Landlord was enforcing a 15% rent increase which would have been a hardship for the renter after only having been in business for three years and would have just seen a break-even financial year in 2007. There were no negotiations; it was clear that it was the landlord’s way or no way. Even when asking for repairs to the building and a time frame for those repairs, Martens was given no answers. So Kristi felt that there was no other solution but to close the shop permanently.
During the last three years, Kristi has worked steadily to bring the Beverly Bean up to its standard of excellence that gave neighbors a comfortable, warm, place to enjoy great coffee, neighborhood news and friendship. Beverly Bean was a neighborhood place where anyone was welcome and felt comfortable coming in and enjoying a few minutes of relaxation before or during the work day.
It was even a safe place for the area children to come and spend some time after school with hot chocolates or hot dogs.
In order to make this work, Kristi Martens has worked a 2nd (and sometimes 3rd job) as an Actor’s Equity Association Stage Manager in the evenings. This was done to help pay her own bills and some of the fledgling business’
Everyone lost because her landlord ( who lives in the suburbs and cashed in on Martens’ labors) set an exorbitant boost to the rent on Beverly Bean and the landlord knows that the market must bear any burden so long as someone else is carrying that burden. Now everyone will miss Beverly Bean, because it seems that landlord wanted to leverage a squeeze on Kristi Martens in order to make a bigger profit over her labor and customers.
What happens when a small private business does everything right and a real estate developer wants more? Everyone loses- but the greedy guy who decided to squeeze out a good client and add a couple of numbers to his ledger with he expects to be a bigger cash cow. Adam Smith? What say you? Oh, that’s right you said it all.
If any of you smart business people want to back a person with business integrity, grit, honesty and a genuine adherence to principles of American Capitalism, Kristi Martens is ready to make Beverly Bean happen once more.
BTW- Kristi Martens is the stage manager demanded by some of the biggest names in Entertainment – Debbie Reynolds and the late Lou Rawls asked for Kristi Martens by name. They appreciated her work ethic and integrity. Too bad Kristi’s landlord only looks at his bank statements.
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Pat Hickey is a daily observer of Chicago in the Beverly neighborhood.
Sarah says:
So sad that this place is gone. I loved walking up there with the kids and getting a cookie for them and a coffee to go for myself. Excellent and real sorry for the greedy people in the world, thanks Kristi!
kathy hughes says:
I am still in shock. What a great asset to the neighborhood.and now it is gone because of greed. Khris was very friendly hardworking and everyone who worked for her was great. I will miss them all and cannot find any coffee or service to even compare I hope she will open again soon .
Kaitie Tully says:
I loved working at the Beverly Bean and I really got along with the customers and Kristi. Im really upset about everything, but i had a good two years.
Mike Morgan says:
I MISS THE BEAN!!! Almost every morning I went to THE BEAN to get my coffee, and I always left feeling better because of Kris, Vanessa, and crew. I am sad that my 6 year old son Jack will never get the chance to enjoy his walks to THE BEAN and get his special cookie Kris ALWAYS had for him. Thanks O'Malley.
Dan Kelley says:
Well stated, Pat.
A few years ago, there was a lunch room in Sauganash that met the same fate. A new landlord dreamed of dollars to be earned by chasing a business tenant out when the lease expired. His fantasy was that the dry precinct would become wet at the next election and a restaurant and bar would be up and running as soon as the liquor license could be framed.
The precinct is still dry. The lunch room is closed and the locals have to make do by visiting a Subway franchise.