On Tuesday, Steve Hall told us that Red Cat Consignment — owned by Hall and his wife Marukh in the Lake Highlands Village Shopping Center at 718 N. Buckner — failed in part because the business was "locked out" of its space by the property’s landlord after the Halls couldn’t make rent payments. (See Tuesday’s original post by clicking here.)
Not true, says Vicky Gillispie, the center’s property manager: "He has a current lease, and he’s current on his rent, and we have no reason to lock him out."
Gillispie said the consignment store appeared to be doing well and has another three months to go on its original one-year lease. Gillispie says she only found out the store was closing on Monday as a Red Cat employee was packing things up; Gillispie says the consignment company employee told her the Halls had filed for bankruptcy and the items were being sold to satisfy the debts. That’s the same thing Hall told us Tuesday when we asked him about the issue; in fact, Hall told us both he and his wife had filed for Chapter 7 (liquidation) bankruptcy individually and that the consigned property had been sold by the landlord and was gone for good. (Steve Hall also operates another business, Hall’s Landscaping.)
Turns out, though, that the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Texas can find no record of a bankruptcy filing for either Hall or his wife, adding further mystery to the episode. Our Wednesday call to Hall for additional details went unanswered, and the consigned goods accepted by the Halls for resale are still AWOL with neither the court nor the landlord apparently in possession of them.
"They had a good business," Gillispie says, "everyone seemed to like them, and they really brought a lot to our shopping center. It’s a sad thing for everyone involved."
Gillispie personally feels the same pain being experience by neighborhood residents who trusted Red Cat with their consigned goods: "Natalie (her assistant) and I had stuff in the consignment shop, too, and I doubt that I’ll ever see it again."
