Kingston cafe owners say they’ve been ‘terrorized’ by landlord

The City of Kingston has stepped in to moderate a situation between owners of The Juniper Cafe and its landlord the Tett Centre.

The centre is municipality owned. The heritage building underwent extensive renovations in 2015 — that is when the popular cafe moved it.

“We definitely acknowledge all the concerns that have been raised about Juniper Cafe,” says Peter Huigenbos, Director of Real Estate and Environmental Initiatives for the City of Kingston.

“A lot of people value the Tett Centre and the Juniper Cafe in this community. What we want to do is facilitate a solution and hopefully do so by the end of this week.”

In an email sent to staff on Monday by Juniper Cafe owner and operator Amber Thom has spread rapidly on social media.

“We are being forced out of the Juniper Cafe at the end of the month, at which time we will have to lay off our 10 employees and will then be unemployed ourselves,” Thom says in the email.

“We have been nothing short of terrorized, resulting in a toxic relationship that has been left unchecked by the city and has escalated over the past five years.”

According to Thom, their 10-year lease with the Tett Centre, on Kingston’s waterfront, was cut short last year.

“It’s no secret we have had many major struggles with Tett executives and management,” says Thom.

“The situation started in August of 2018, when the owners of the Juniper Cafe gave notice they intended to sell the business and move onto another venture,” says Tett Centre board chair Dave Kerr.

“The board has been trying to find a new way forward.”

In the meantime, an online petition in support of the Juniper Cafe is growing. Over 1,000 people signed it within the first six hours.

In an email statement to Global News, Amber Thom says, “I feel confident the Juniper Cafe will remain at the Tett Centre for years to come and will give the city a chance to sort this out. The community has spoken!”

More information to follow …