Fur store's problems grow with eviction letter

By Nick Winkler and KATU Web Staff Published: Dec 23, 2006 at 8:25 PM PDT Last Updated: Apr 14, 2009 at 3:13 PM PDT
Fur store's problems grow with eviction letter »Play Video
PORTLAND, Ore. - Officials with a downtown Portland fur and leather store targeted by fur protesters said the landlord is asking the business to move too soon - in just days.

The store's owner, Gregg Schumacher, had already announced he was moving Schumacher Furs & Outerwear. The news came in the wake of 13 months of protests outside the store.

Then Schumacher got a letter from his landlord's lawyer on Friday telling the business to get out by 1 p.m. the day after Christmas. But he said it's not an official eviction notice so he has no plans to follow it.

Store officials said the landlord, Tom Moyer's TMT Development Co., is claiming that the store's "Evacuation Sale" signs on the sidewalk are violating the lease agreement.

But they say they paid the city for permits to put the signs on the sidewalk. Since the signs are on city property, the landlord has no case, store officials said.

Neither Moyer nor officials with the development company could be reached for comment Saturday.

Schumacher officials said they don't plan to leave until they are ready in a few months.