RE: 'Beloved longtime thrift store shut its doors, but not by choice' [Village News, 7/28/22]

I’m responding to last week’s excellent but sad article regarding our beloved St Johns Thrift shop. This shop was more than a place to buy things at a reasonable price, it was also the home of a community who donated large amounts of money to many worthy causes here in Fallbrook, such as Fallbrook Senior Center, Fallbrook Food Pantry and many others.

This shop has been in Fallbrook for over 70 years and in its current location for over 20 years. Both volunteers and many customers felt like family. Some customers actually cried when they heard that we were closing.

As one of the board members, we were asked to meet with Betsy Chin and her real estate staff. We assumed we were going to be asked more rent (we were on a month to month lease).

We were totally taken by surprise when we were presented with a 30 day eviction notice. Betsy is in her right to evict us for probably for a more lucrative tenant, but she did not give too much thought about how many worthwhile causes her company is affecting here in our friendly village of Fallbrook.

Jayne Bendel