Edith Rosa went to work as usual Tuesday morning. She arrived at the entrance to Painted Tree a little after 10 a.m., only to find that her day was anything but normal.
Instead of walking to her shop, Edge81 Jewelry Studio, she was stopped at the door. Painted Tree was closing, store employees told her.
“I thought I was going to puke, as if somebody hit me in the gut,” Rosa said.
The national chain, which rented space and handled sales for more than 200 small businesses at its San Antonio location, abruptly closed all of its stores this week. The change has left many small business owners like Rosa reeling as they try to secure their profits from this month and chart a course forward.
“I’m trying to figure it out,” Rosa said. “But as of now, I don’t have an answer.”
The closure of the Park North Shopping Center location prompted a whirlwind of emotions and actions. As soon as she learned about the closure, Rosa started boxing up her inventory and moving it out. She provides permanent jewelry services and had to quickly reschedule appointments and reimburse customers.
“I had like four breakdowns in there while I was packing,” she said. “You pack your dream. In two to three hours, it’s packed and you have to find somewhere new. It’s hard.”
Painted Tree San Antonio shared the following statement this morning:
“The retail landscape has changed in ways none of us could have fully anticipated. Rising costs, shifting market conditions, and the evolving nature of how people shop have presented challenges that, despite our best efforts and our community’s unwavering support, we have not been able to overcome. We are heartbroken by this outcome.”
The company thanked shoppers and employees and said it did not make the decision lightly. It’s the second major closure to hit the area after Saks Fifth Avenue at North Star Mall announced it would shut its doors permanently next month.
Communication with Painted Tree, a nationwide chain with 61 locations, according to its website, has been difficult for vendors. Rosa learned the store was closing when she went in person Tuesday morning. She got an email around 11:30 a.m. informing vendors they would have until April 24 to remove their inventory from the property.
Melissa Rojas, who owns zarape-inspired clothing brand Chasing Camilla, also rented space at Painted Tree and was blindsided by the closure. She had been invited to a pop-up market in California for Karol G’s Coachella performance and learned about the closure while traveling back home.
“I don’t know where to go at this point. Even getting ahold of them at this point [is difficult],” she said. “We’re in limbo.”
Rojas and Rosa said this was one of the busiest seasons for businesses at Painted Tree as people flocked to small businesses for Fiesta wear. Both are planning pop-up shops during the week. Tax returns were hitting bank accounts, Rosa added, and she had stacked up inventory to meet that demand.
San Antonio residents have been vocal in their support with vendors receiving offers to help store and move their inventory and to set up shop in new locations. But both Rosas and Rojas are wary of ending up in a worse situation.
Painted Tree had handled sales at a single checkout for its vendors inside the store and then distributes payments at the beginning of each month. Rosa estimates the company has $5,000 from sales of her products.
Rojas’ cropped guayaberas are incredibly popular, but especially during Fiesta season. She estimated the company owes her $10,000. Neither have heard updates from Painted Tree.
“I don’t know if I’m going to get it,” Rojas said. “They’re not telling us anything.”
Painted Tree did not respond to an email asking about payments to vendors.
For Rosa, that means she’s scrambling to make ends meet this month. She has an employee. Her budget and regular payments for her bills are suddenly up in the air.
“That’s a lot of money,” she said of her sales from April. “We have 15 days to recoup.”
Deeper issues
Rosa paid around $560 every month for a roughly 140-square-foot space. Painted Tree also kept 10% of proceeds from her sales.
“Theft was something that was very noticeable,” Rosa said. She started keeping a tight inventory and locking up or taking home valuable jewelry over the past 18 months.
Rojas was considering leaving due to late payments, high business turnover and the lack of communication. When Painted Tree opened, she also rented a location in Austin. She closed that one after a year because it wasn’t turning a profit.
Painted Tree signed a 10-year lease with Seritage SRC Finance, the New York-based owners of the building at Park North, in 2019, according to court records. Annual rent was $416,193.15 for the first five years and $457,995.81 for the last five years, according to the lease, with an opportunity to renew at a higher annual rent for an additional five years.
Seritage sued Painted Tree in 2020, alleging the company failed to make early payments and take possession of the premises at the location. The two parties reached an agreement to dismiss the lawsuit in March 2022.
In February 2023, Seritage sold the property to San Antonio Central Park Associates, a limited liability company registered to K. Alan Hassenflu. Hassenflu is co-founder and CEO of Fidelis Realty Partners, a commercial real estate company near Houston.
Rosa said that the closure of Painted Tree was something that she had feared, but business owners there had worked hard to attract clients and build up interest. There had been strong support from regular customers, she said, and it would be difficult for many small businesses that had relied on that location.
“It’s a lot of woman-owned businesses, a lot of Hispanic-owned businesses. It’s families. It’s 200 families,” she said.
“Some people depended on this,” Rojas added. “How are they going to pay their bills? I’m just in shock.”
