nationwide shutdown<\/a> is sending shockwaves through Central Texas, where several small business owners now find themselves without a place to sell their products.<\/p>\nFor vendors like Jennifer Aghassibake of Magpie Gallery, the news came without warning.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s so sad to see everybody\u2019s dreams just kind of taken away like that,\u201d Aghassibake said.<\/p>\n
Aghassibake and others rushed to the Round Rock location on Tuesday after learning that they had just 10 days to clear out their booths.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Painted Tree Boutique leaders attributed the closure to unexpected changes in the retail landscape. In a statement, the company wrote:\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cRising costs, shifting market conditions, and the evolving nature of how people shop have presented challenges that, despite our best efforts and our community\u2019s unwavering support, we have not been able to overcome. We are heartbroken by this outcome.\u201d<\/p>\n
Aghassibake told KVUE that for the past year, she has operated her small business inside Painted Tree. As a law student, she said it\u2019s given her a creative outlet and helped her pay for school.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe thing I love the most about Painted Tree was that you have a booth and there’s a central checkout so I can go to my full time job, have all my stuff there,\u201d Aghassibake said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Now Aghassibake said she\u2019s out thousands of dollars in inventory with nowhere to take it.<\/p>\n
Other vendors are facing similar losses. Ashley Bowling, owner of Proper Pieces, said the closure hits her family directly.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis business has definitely been a huge financial support for myself and my family, paying for kids activities, putting food on the table \u2013 and so this is a huge loss for myself, for shoppers and the community,\u201d Bowling said.<\/p>\n
At the Round Rock location alone, vendors said roughly 150 small businesses are affected. Some told KVUE that they\u2019re still waiting for payments from March sales and haven\u2019t been given a timeline for when those funds will arrive. When asked, the store\u2019s manager told KVUE that they did not have that information.<\/p>\n
Despite the uncertainty, some vendors are trying to stay optimistic.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel like small business owners are … we adapt and we are innovative,\u201d Bowling said. \u201cAnd so, I know that we’ll be looking for the next opportunity to try and continue to be successful.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Painted Tree Boutique leaders attributed the closure to unexpected changes in the retail landscape. Vendors have 10 days…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":253649,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[132,134,133],"class_list":{"0":"post-253648","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-austin","8":"tag-austin","9":"tag-austin-headlines","10":"tag-austin-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/253648","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=253648"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/253648\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/253649"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=253648"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=253648"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=253648"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}