Thursday, March 28, 2024

The Village Church buys shopping center

The Village Church is expanding in Flower Mound after purchasing The Shops at Flower Mound, a strip center next to the church.

The church, located in an old Albertson’s grocery store at the corner of FM 407 and Morriss Road, needs more space, according to Lindsey Eenigenberg, executive director the church’s administration.

“The opportunity to purchase the shopping center from the previous owner presented itself, and our church voted to move forward with the purchase in the spring of 2022,” Eenigenberg said in an email. “With the acquisition of additional space within the shopping center, TVC looks forward to optimizing existing ministry environments in the new spaces as they come available.”

Tan Evolution is one of many businesses to close after The Village Church acquired The Shops at Flower Mound.

Eenigenberg said the church is honoring current tenants’ lease agreements that were already in place when the church bought the building. It is not expected to renew any leases, however, forcing several businesses to relocate or close down.

Some businesses have already closed up shop, including a dance studio and tanning salon, and others expect the same fate, including a dentist’s office, chiropractor’s office and nail spa.

Tan Evolution’s owner, Neetz Lach, said she had heard from the church in June that it was “not planning on doing anything for a year or two.” But a couple months later, her husband received an email from the church, a notice to vacate by the end of the year.

“It’s very upsetting that we had no choice,” Lach said. “I was expecting the old and new landlords to get together and renew my lease, at least that’s what they told me, but it never happened.

“Not only did it take away a service from the community and tax revenue from the city, but it also financially crippled me. I’m just basically going day-to-day right now.”

The last three months of the year make up the salon’s slow period, and Lach didn’t expect to make any profit if she stayed open through December. Additionally, the process of selling all the equipment, and having it picked up, is a time-consuming one. Lach said she looked into the cost of relocating the business and all of its equipment, and it was going to cost about $100,000.

“I don’t have that, I still have a loan on this business,” Lach said. “Once I can get the rest of the beds sold, I’ll have to find a job, which was not in my plans.”

The tanning salon has been open at that location since 2000, and Lach bought it seven years ago. Lach said her salon was the only locally-owned tanning salon in the area, and she had regular clients who don’t want to go to a large chain but may not have a choice anymore.

The change in management was also a surprise for Kayla Morrison, school director at the Massage Institute of North Texas, which has been in the same location for over a decade.

“I wasn’t aware the building was up for sale,” Morrison said. “I’m not sure if renewing will be an option.”

Morrison said the business still has about a year-and-a-half on its lease, and while she doesn’t want to leave, she might have to.

“Relocating would certainly put a financial burden on the business that I had not planned for,” she said. “I hope that we are able to work out a viable solution to continue to stay where we’ve grown the business, and where our clients and customers are accustomed to us.”

Mark Smith
Mark Smith
Mark Smith is the Digital Editor of The Cross Timbers Gazette.

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