Post includes new hours of operation, closing Wednesday and Thursday and follows with a letter to the community.
Dear Community,
Thank you for understanding that we have chosen to close 2 days a week. (We need a break!)
In 2019, we received a Cease-and-Desist letter from our landlords Joanne Nathan, Patt Sefton-Hoffen, Yahk Sefton, Warren Sefton and Robin Liotta. Our permitted use states, “Yogurt Stop and incidentals”, Through their attorney, Luisa Jaffe, they claimed we were in default because we were selling chips, candy, cookies, and other small marketplace items and demanded we get rid of our “incidentals” and only sell yogurt.
Not only were we confused and devastated as we are stellar tenants, always pay our rent on time and are a part of the fabric of West Hollywood, but we strongly believe we are not in default. We put in repeated efforts into “working things out”, but to no avail and through their courses of action, we could only deduce that they were trying to financially strangle us where we would be unable to pay the rent. During Covid, they attempted for us to stop selling PPE items…“…Related to the Use issue, the Lessor does not accept that the City of West Hollywood has the constitutional authority to rewrite the parties private contract by its various COVID-related emergency ordinances and approval that purport to expand the permitted uses under any lease.”
As we were mentally and physically exhausted, we felt our only path of resolution was to put our business up for sale.
We secured a viable buyer (in our opinion) with financial strength and strong experience. The landlords almost immediately declined the buyer and gave numerous reasons why they would not accept him as a buyer, one being “…nor has the identified any experience in, or connection to, the West Hollywood market…” We were shocked as the past two years they have given every indication they want us “gone”. (They’ve done a formal inspection of our shop, we’ve heard that Ownership drives by taking photos of our exterior looking for violations and calls the City on us for supposed violations. We’ve even heard that they’ve gone as far as to offer our space to another business owner on a neighboring block.)
They have stated when our lease is up in 2023, they will not renew Yogurt Stop’s lease. We are incredibly sad by this as our goal was to have Yogurt Stop “live forever” and remain the safe and comforting place you, our community, have grwon to love for the past 13 years. (We thank you for getting us through Covid and your constant support.)
It is also the goal of smaller business owners nationwide to build up a business to sell which we have been working 7 days a week over 10 years to do just that and they have taken our investment and livelihood away from us.
We love you and our beloved Yogurt Stop and will put forth all available efforts to keep Yogurt Stop alive while maintaining our superior quality and our welcoming atmosphere.
Xoxo,
YOGURT STOP – Marta and Shoshana- your 100% gay owned and operated Mom & Mom business.
[…] Yogurt Stop goes public about their dispute with landlord. Deal to sell falls through […]
As with Monte Oversrreet’s gouging of the bars and his overpriced apartments, this typical WeeHoe “public outcry” will come to naught. In that town these days, money talks. Everything else is superfluous
Yogurt Stop lost its charm when they transformed it into a horrible convenience store. They don’t invest any time or money on social media, the store was falling apart the last time I visited it and the owners were screaming to an employee in the back. Never came back after that.
When I click on the link to read about the latest on Ed Buck the link to the Yogurt Shop comes up.
Can you please fix this so I can read about the opening arguments coming up for the trial? Thank you very much! 😍
Thank you everyone for your outpouring of love and support. We are truly humbled by it. (And thanks to all of you who have come to us privately). You mean the world to us.
We just want to clarify that the landlords are “Eleanor Nathan as Trustee of the Eleanor Nathan Survivor’s Trust, and 8801 Santa Monica Blvd., LLC, a California Limited Liability Company” and our it is our belief the members are Joanne Nathan, Robin Liotta, Patt Sefton-Hoffen, Warren Sefton and Yank Sefton.
Marta and Shoshana
Hey ladies what a shame you are getting harassed for CHIPS (which I buy many, many times) Every small business has every right sell. My friends and I always have our cheat days there. We love your amazing selection of chips and candy — and when I try to be good, I always go to your vegan cookies. Please, please, please don’t give up or change a thing. All my friends will continue to support you. Yogurt Stop forever! #freeyogurtstop
Listen…I feel for anyone with a small business these days. It’s tough for sure. But let’s be honest…these owners had their share of nasty moments. I’ve witnessed yelling and rudeness to customers and their own employees on more than one occasion.
Once the shop turned into a small convenience store I stopped going. It was cramp, overpriced and dirty! Whatever charm it had from it’s original opening was long gone. I could go on and on about the owners..but why bother.
I can’t imagine they are easy to deal with on any level!
Please ladies, try to assert some dignity by not airing your dirty laundry in public. If one is in business, they generally have access to an attorney for guidance when necessary. The court of public opinion is not the arena for this “who shot John” scenario. Unless the objective is to claim damages for abuse or whatever theory available, it’s a long hideous road. A wise attorney once advised, you can live your life or be embroiled in a lawsuit, one cannot do both so pay attention to the details.
How can you have dignity when a man gets addressed as a “lady”?
???Could you please explain that???
It’s disappointing that the landlords are so greedy. The fact that Marta and Shoshona provided face masks during the pandemic was great. They were helping the community stay safe. My friends and I got some when I was in town.
It’s clear that the landlords are harassing Marta and Shoshona, and I am sure are homophobic as well!
I’m tired of the same trolls hiding behind their computers complaining and not doing anything with their lives. Yogurt Stop is a small business being attacked by greedy landlords. What is the city doing to help this? who cares they have tons of products. maybe they should sell overpriced drinks so they can pay the rent.
Used to be a clean fun shop and now feels like a convenience store. The flavor has left this shop sadly
what is your issue with yogurt? my family go in there every week and eat froyo and snacks. fav fam place to frequent. looks clean to me. why so sad? let’s all get happy and support one of the last small businesses in west Hollywood.
It’s like you’re their bodyguard or something. Oh yeah, grow a pair and use your full name.
I remember when the logo was sexy then they put a housemaid’s skirt on her. It all went downhill. What happened to the fun flavor names? Seems when the logo changed, the vibe and joy left too.
you sure sound bitter and jealous. what do you do? hide behind your computer?
Very good point. I remember the logo, too. It was sexy & fun! The way West Hollywood should be.
Waide, Exactly! Ron, I’m not bitter. What would I need to be bitter about? I’m just saying that once the sexy and fun stuff left so did the joy of going. Froyo is froyo. Atmosphere and service are everything particularly in WeHo.
That was at the core of the issue; the sign was deemed inappropriate, obviously not by the owners of the store, but by the landlord (s). There seems to be some bad blood and a lot of pressure by rich landlords. The store was my go-to during the pandemic. When I noticed that they sold high quality dog chews, I was really happy about that. Why would that be an issue? It fits right in with the other quality snacks.Great yogurt, (I’m looking at you, fresh banana shake), fun, old time candies and snacks. And, oh no, protective masks during… Read more »