News

Atha Plaza tenants wonder and wait

Pat Reese holds two lab mix puppies at Fish & Pets in Atha Plaza.

By Bill Moss, Published: February 15, 2015

Puppies yap, kittens cry and birds chirp, oblivious to the fact that moving day could be soon — even if they're not adopted.

Fish & Pets, a stalwart of the 55-year-old Atha Plaza shopping center on Greenville Highway at White Street, has been selling puppies, kittens, birds and goldfish here for more than 25 years. Like the other tenants in the retail strip, owners Dale and Pat Reese will be looking for a new home if the proposed development of a new Publix shopping center takes place.
"The landlord keeps telling us, he don't know, he don't know" a time frame, Dale Reese said. "We're like a yoyo. I wish I knew."
The Reeses say there's been chatter by shopkeepers and customers for close to a year that owner Larry Baber planned to sell Atha Plaza. The news broke that Publix was looking to open a store on the site on Thursday night when the City Council took up a request to sell a small parcel of land for the project. To make room for a large store and parking, the supermarket giant would clear property that contains Atha Plaza, El Paso restaurant, the Blue Ridge Bedding store and the former Tractor Shed restaurant, Baber said.
At Fish & Pets, regular buyers of fish food and birdseed are expressing sympathy.
"Everybody's just concerned where we're going is the main thing," Dale Reese said. "We've had so many people say, 'Where are y'all going?' and sometimes I think they know more than we do. But straight up, Larry keeps telling me he don't know."
Dale and his wife say they have no plans to close the business.
"It's worrying us," he said. "I bought this place 27 years ago on faith. If I have to move I'll move on faith."
At Bo-Kaye's Gifts & Cards, owner Kay Duggins, too, is wondering what will happen next.
"We've known it's been for sale for quite a while," she said. "I haven't panicked about it. I expect that it will sell at some point in time. At that time I guess we'll have to look for another place because we have no plans to close. We're planning to remain in business at some location."
The loyal Bo-Kaye shoppers don't want a big mall or Internet shopping.
"We'll definitely looking for something that will be good for our customer base," Duggins said. "They're buying cards, they're grandmas, they need easy in and out. I would like it to be in the same general area. I don't want to move too far away."