House of Mews Updates

Update uno: The House of Mews has a letter on their home page explaining what they need for the move. They are also very gracious to the folks kicking them out, which is nice.

Here it is:

January 17, 2007

Dear Friends of Mews,

WE NEED YOU NOW MORE DESPERATELY THAN EVER BEFORE……………..

Our new landlords have notified us that we are to vacate our building by March 2007. We are the last in line of all the tenants to be vacated. Our landlord was good enough to let us know that eventually it would be our turn, but that for the time being (the last 2 years) we were welcome to stay as “ we were considered an asset to the community". The property owners have plans for all of the buildings they own to the north of ours, which include serious upgrading and new tenants who can afford much higher lease rates. As a businesswoman, I understand return on investment on one's property is key. Nevertheless, it saddens me, as we have been a part of the Cooper Young Community for well past 11 years and will be forever grateful for the kindness of the community and our supporters, including the owners of our space.....where well over 7,000 homeless cats have been cared for and adopted and people from all over the world have visited.

Now for the really tough part......we MUST move by March 2007! Here, we once again ask for the support of our "Friends of Mews". You have already given us much.....you send us money, you volunteer and work hard in our store, you bring in & donate tons of supplies to alleviate our burdens and make life easier. We hope you will want to help us again. We NEED YOU. The House of Mews has not survived because of one person alone, but by many who have been dedicated over the years. Here's how you might help:

1. Are you a realtor who knows a possible space, a storefront with windows, a small older home
in a commercial area for lease, possibly for sale?.
2. Are you someone who would consider being our landlord, buy a small space in a commercial area as an
investment and let us pay the mortgage payments as rent?
3. Can you sign up to foster or adopt ONE or TWO Kitties during our transition?
4. Are you willing to help paint, tile or decorate with us?
5. Can you help us move, or help us clear our building in some small way?
6. Can you help get the word out to your friends and family that we are looking for help QUICKLY?
7. CAN YOU DONATE $ to help keep us going during this transition?

We must start anew, a smaller space, about 1500 s.f....we are ready to size down, the current space has been a huge workload of 3000 s.f. which I must care for by myself when I don't have enough volunteers.......we have already lowered our number of kitties from 170 to just under 100. We pray for a nice little space without any huge remodeling expense and nice big windows for the kitties to lay in the sun and look out the windows just as they have for 11 years here on Cooper....that and hopefully a place where many people walk/drive/visit so we are seen and our homeless kitties can be adopted. Without this, we might as well close our store..............location is still the most important ingredient for success. We know beggars can't be choosers, but then, we don't want to be thought of as beggars, unless of course,that works!
We thank you for helping in whatever way works best for you, please contact me immediately if you can assist us. Time is of the essence, as we will all be magicians if we can pull this one off!

Sincerely,

Elain Harvey
Founder & Managing Director
Direct Access # (901) 489-7938 Email: houseofmew@aol.com

Update dos: on this thread at the Goner Message Board, member Alisa reports that "Burke's is not moving into the House of Mews. It's moving into the end of the row across the Tsunami parking lot. Apparently, overhead is much lower...which makes sense." It sounds like the same row of shops, but not that particular space. Which is good for Burke's, since you don't want to be the one kicking the kitties out. But does that mean then that the HOM eviction is a speculative eviction?