I’m no psychic, but I dabble in reading signs around Lake Highlands. When a real psychic moves out of a strip mall, I jump to the conclusion that better times are ahead for the neighborhood.
To get a clearer reading, I decided to visit the Royal-Green Plaza on the southwest corner of Royal and Greenville, and talk to some of the tenants.
First I stopped into the Woman’s Health Boutique, which opened in October 2009. Cindy Brungart welcomed me, and told me that the store is owned by Vicki Jones, who created the business in Longview after her mother’s cancer diagnosis in 1986. At that time it was difficult to locate products and services to comfort her mother, or buoy her spirits. This difficulty inspired Jones to create a boutique catering to women’s dignity and femininity, along with their health needs. Think hair, hats, swimwear, foundation garments and custom fitting.
The suite boasts three large, private fitting rooms, and a bright room for trying on wigs. Custom orders for many of the products are available, including at least three types of prostheses for women who have had mastectomies but do not want reconstructive surgery. The shop also carries some specialty items for pregnant and nursing women.
During my visit, Brungart allowed me to peek into the future (if I should decide to let my hair grow out gray). After one look at me in a gray wig, we both decided my future can wait. This may explain why I never visited the psychic, when I had the chance.
I asked Brungart what she thought of the psychic’s disappearance.
“We asked about that when we were looking at the lease,” she said. “The owner told us he thought the psychic would be leaving soon.”
That prediction came true, although past forecasts hadn’t been as accurate, according to the delightful Dr. T. Bob Davis, neighborhood dentist.
Davis was one of the original tenants to lease at the property, although his initial impression of the property 22 years ago was that “it was ideal, except there’s no street.” When he saw clear progress on the construction of an intersection at Royal and Greenville, he signed the lease.
For years, Davis did not have a sign. A well-known participant and pianist at First Baptist Church in Dallas, his practice was already established to the point that referrals and return business kept him busy.
About five years ago, the psychic appeared without warning.
“I went to the owner and asked, ‘What do you mean putting a psychic in here? It’s not a good mix,’” Davis recalls. The owner predicted, wrongly, that the psychic would be gone in a month.
Davis’s son and office manager, Creth, says, “The psychic was one of the few that put a sign out. That’s one of the reasons he stood out most.” The psychic’s sign was small, but neon, and it always seemed to be glaring “OPEN” well after dark, every day of the week.
Dr. Davis developed a sense of humor about the situation. In the past, his clients sometimes had difficulty finding his location, but the psychic turned the building into a memorable landmark. Finally, Davis got his own sign.
“The psychic left when he realized he was in T. Bob’s building,” Davis jokes. His sign is bigger than the psychic’s used to be.
After speaking to these good neighbors at Royal-Green Plaza, I called the owner of the property, Mr. Khan, to get his comments. When I mentioned the psychic, his immediate response was, “The psychic doesn’t live there.”
That was an answer to a question I hadn’t asked.
He made it clear he would not comment on a former tenant who was already gone. Of course, it doesn’t take a mind reader to know that commercial property needs paying tenants. As a homeowner and stakeholder in Lake Highlands, I wish Mr. Khan continued success in finding more tenants like those gracious people who spoke to me.
