The owners of Yogurt Stop on Santa Monica Blvd. have set up a GoFundMe page seeking donations for legal expenses related to a battle with their landlords.
Marta Knittel and Shoshana Joseph are claiming that the owners of 8803 Santa Monica Blvd. — Joanne Nathan, Robin Iiotta, Patt Sefton-Hoffen, Yank Sefton and Warren Sefton — are unfairly pushing them out of the shop they’ve run for 13 years and interfering with attempts to sell the business.
As written on the GoFundMe page:
They have told us that when our lease expires in 2023 they will not let us exercise our 3-year option nor let us have a new lease. We are dumbfounded as we are excellent tenants and have always paid our rent on time. During Covid, we even used a portion of our PPP to pay some advance rent which they returned saying they don’t accept advance rent. Through their attorneys, Luisa and Saul Jaffe, we strongly believe they have asserted various misleading claims stating we are in default for selling potatoes chips, cookies, candy and more. As being in default prevents us from exercising our option or selling our business, we will need to go the legal route, which is costly, to prove we are not in default. Our landlords have also accused us of stopping tenants from coming into this building and have attempted to extort over $25,000 by sending us their legal bills. Mentally and physically exhausted, we felt our only path to resolution was putting our business up for sale. We secured a viable buyer (in our opinion) with financial strength and strong experience. The landlords almost immediately declined him giving numerous reasons why they would not accept him, one being “…nor has he identified any experience in, or connection to, the West Hollywood market…”
The GoFundMe campaign’s goal is to raise $40,000. Yogurt Stop is offering a free yogurt for those who donate $50 or more.
This is terrible. I wish I could help out. I’m struggling right now financially but yogurt stop has so many memories when I first came to LA and the behavior of their landlords (and many these days) is so out of line. I hope you the good prevails and the landlords don’t end up running out a great part of gay LA to just have another random store only because they think about profits.
Karma wins every time. YS owners are sue happy bullies. Time for them to STOP and leave
Did they reach their goal yet?
As of today about $600. Not too many support
I loved Yogurt Stop in the very beginning years. When it first opened in a WeHo that was Gay & fun. It was about the yogurt & fresh toppings and that was it! I miss that.
I WOULD NEVER SUPPORT OF “YOGURT STOP” since long pre pandemic, The way the manager & staff were always in a bitch fight, that if part of a tv show script, would be removed for writing Such an offensively over the top portrait of the stereotype of gay “queens”always having a gay-fight-name calling-“Girrrle” 100% to carrying so loud so long TO THE EXTENT OF IGNORING AND NOT PROVIDING ANY SALES SERVICE OF ANY OT EVEN ACKNOWLEDGEMENT THERE IS/ARE CUSTOMERS TRYING TO BUY A FROZEN YOGURT SNACK. THE BUSINESS WAS PUT ON MY “NOT EVER GOING TO GO BACK A SHOP/BUY/EAT… Read more »
They sound like a couple of grifters
You seem to be very emotionally invested and angry for someone who is complaining they font like drama and fighting. Maybe your keycaps button got stuck, but you should have a little more self awareness and also understand how your comments of the things you hate are actually disrespectful of all gays. So sorry that we all can’t be the straight acting ones that you want us to be. Some of us get bitchy, some of us refer to each other as “gurl”. And you feel that’s a sign of why they are horrible people? The only thing horrible here… Read more »
This place needs to go – they are overpriced and it looks like a mini-market with all the crap they sell. Karma for price gouging during the pandemic. Let’s get some good neighbors in there that sell quality product and don’t rob the people who support them.
What’s the point with landlords like these? Whatever replaces them won’t last. Unless perhaps with the best case scenario for success, you want to cram another bar in there, it’s the only thing that will last, as that part of the neighborhood shows.
WOW….from Yogurt lawsuits to many many penises…….how this thread has taken a left turn- but it is West Hollywood….how I miss it- not just the yogurt and the sightings of genitalia but the whole place- rock on and fight the good fight
Last night we observed three people enjoying Yogurt at the Yogurt Stop. At the same time a man dropped his pants and pulled out his penis and peed all over the window and sidewalk of the closed store next to them. I was so embarrassed as just a citizen. Why would anyone want to operate a business in these conditions. Just awful.
That is a common scene in West Hollywood. Why would anyone want to live here and moreover why does the city tolerate degrading activities all over town while ensconced in City Hall and remote locations. They don’t see it and apparently don’t believe it.
Sorry that homess people offend you. I’m so glad you moved to an area that’s been sanitized and make perfect for your entitled way you want everything to be.
They will eventually pee in your area if no one does anything to address the problem of housing and homeless people. So you should be working to help if you don’t like it.
I see as many penises on my street as I do at the gym! Well, truthfully, I suppose it’s the same four or five, with an occasional new one. I had the eight year old daughter of friends with me when a homeless guy, who says he was once a porn actor, whip out his penis to urinate, facing the street, as this little girl and I crossed to my car. An eight year old saw her first adult penis! Her parents were quite upset as even her dad is careful about that in their home. But that’s the life… Read more »
Maybe she becomes an up standing lesbian because of it. People should calm down and if they don’t like it help fix the problems. Nah they just want to complain.
Now I am just guessing here that the owners and staff of yogurt shop had nothing to do with the man peeing on the building as you described. Unless you the man was asked by the store to do this, or there is a sign saying they love for people to pee on their windows. Faulting the store for this is so ridiculous? Is this your first time in a big city? We have people all over los Angeles over 70,000 people now have no homes and some of those people are also not mentally stable from the stress of… Read more »
I’m sure this has been a horrible ordeal for the owners of Yogurt Stop, but when you are appealing to the public to bail you out to the tune of $40k, isn’t it also understood you’re inviting the feedback in these comments? Best to ignore them and focus on those supporting you and not defending against everything that upsets you. Getting dragged into that back and forth never serves anyone. Good luck – we need small gay-owned businesses here.
Be careful, Marta will call you a bully.
Keep up the good fight! Too bad you can’t relocate to the empty storefronts under the City’s King’s Road Parking Structure; that has been empty for years. Supposedly a tenant was coming in but that was over a year ago. It is amazing how many West Hollywood landlords are willing to have empty commercial storefronts while finding reasons to nickle and dime good tenants.
To my knowledge, Barry’s Bootcamp is still relocating to that space.
Well anyone looking to rent from these particular landlords in the future should obviously look elsewhere because this is clearly what they have to look forward to. They want short term tenants so they can raise the rent through the roof time and again. Do you want to have a landlord who roots for your business failure after getting your money?
Lol!!! You stupid people for continuing for more Gavin. Joe Biden is a bumbling idiot. Kamala is a cackling side show. They don’t care about your business. Just close shop already. Liberalism is a mental disorder.
Kamala, Gavin and Biden voted in legislation for small businesses like Yogurt Stop to get PPP loans while the GQP voted to let small businesses rot.
GQP? Ok blue anon.
That’s not the whole truth and you know it. Businesses that were owned by anyone that wasn’t white were allowed to get the loans first.
Everyone else had to get in the back of the line.
Funny how fighting for equity pushes everyone down while pushing for equality pushes others up.
The potential closing of a yogurt shop has nothing to do with your unwarranted vitriol about political leaders. Many other more appropriate sites it you’d like to continue to rant.
cc: greeneydguy
Wow. Some clarity in libtard land.
What does anything you’ve written have to do w/ Yogurt Stop? Maybe you feel better having purged yourself for the day, but it’s a serious waste of pixels.
I’m sure she has a batch of cut and paste racist comments and angry at the liberals to do on every article she reads. It may actually be a not since most of that is phrases people have said on Twitter. Although calling kamala browned pig skin I couldn’t find so easy. So that’s new racist hate it the making.
Shut up Karen. The only one stupid here is you, sweetie. Do you even live in this area? Enjoy you unemployed days that you spend going from web site to website, usually not even reading more than a headline. Just to cut and paste the same stupid comment that you probably didn’t even write. Do you think anyone read that and was persuaded to change their minds on voting?
Have fun giving money to Trump. He loves how you donate money you don’t have to spend, to keep him living rich.
In case you weren’t aware Crackling is the crisp browned skin or rind of roast pork. And Dawn, here, feels that the race of Kamala is why she is terrible. Dawn you clearly should move to somewhere that no one has to be forced to realize you exist. You are the idiot and I’m so sorry that you are so angry no polition will ever help you there. Your racist attitude may be where you might try starting at changing and then one day, maybe you will like yourself and will like others. No one likes you now.