ST. PETE BEACH, Fla. — Nestled in Dolphin Village Plaza along Gulf Boulevard is Café Soleil. The French bakery has been serving up pastries, coffees and breakfast foods in St. Pete Beach for nearly a decade.
"This means a lot to me," owner Lauren Chezaud said while seated in her bustling bakery on Thursday. Now, she's scrambling to find a new location, claiming her landlord is forcing her out.
"I'm worried about my team, and what's going to happen to them," Chezaud said. Her employees, some of whom have worked there for years, rely on their paychecks and are still sorting out what to do if the cafe closes.
One employee is studying math at St. Pete College. He shared that his job pays for his school and is hopeful something positive works out with Café Soleil.
Earlier this year, Chezaud says her landlord reached out with an enticing offer to move her cafe across the plaza. The space was recently renovated and is larger than Café Soleil's current location.
"They were hoping that by us moving there, we would attract more traffic to the other side since they're looking for tenants, and it now looks absolutely beautiful," Chezaud said. "So that was one of the reasons why that idea came up."
After months of discussions with her Brixmor Property Group leasing agent, Chezaud signed the new location lease.
"For almost nine months, we had contractors we had from painters, architects, general contractors, and flooring companies, ready to start the construction work there," Chezaud explained. "At the last minute, after spending so much time looking into that move in organizing it, that relocation, they let us know that we had a major issue that Starbucks was not giving us their consent to stay in the shopping center.
"So we could not, with the way our menu reads, stay in the shopping center. And we could therefore not be serving coffee and serving most of what's on our menu."
Chezaud shared text messages from her leasing agent that said, "The way your menu reads right now, Starbucks with not approve your use."
Brixmor Property Group says it never asked Café Soleil to change its menu. The company sent a statement on the matter:
"The lease document is only between the business owner and the landlord; however, the landlord may have to resolve any language that may conflict with existing leases. In this case, Café Soleil was in discussions with us on a new lease for a larger space, so the landlord must consider all of the other leases currently in place at the shopping center.
"While our leasing representative’s text could have been worded differently, she was indicating that there was a potential conflict within another tenant’s lease. The potential conflict was ultimately resolved, but Café Soleil informed us she no longer wished to remain in our center and is relocating to another location.
"As previously communicated, Café Soleil was not asked to change its menu or stop serving coffee and pastries."
Starbucks also denied asking Café Soleil to move or change in any way. A Starbucks spokesperson provided 10 Tampa Bay with the following statement:
“At no point did Starbucks request or compel any organization or business entity of any kind, to move, change or not renew, Café Solei's business or tenancy. Starbucks had no knowledge of the café’s status with Dolphin Village Ownership prior to the post on the matter from ProtectStPeteBeach.com. We have enjoyed being neighbors with you and value our relationships within Dolphin Village. Starbucks remains committed to being a good neighbor in the St. Pete Beach community.”
The Starbucks is located in the Dolphin Plaza, just doors down from Café Soleil. 10 Tampa Bay has requested documents from the property company that were sent to the tenant confirming the menu would not need to be changed. 10 Tampa Bay is awaiting a response.
Chezaud says she was told to change her menu and that both Publix and Starbucks would need to approve it before she could change locations within the plaza.
"Who would go to a coffee shop without coffee?" Chezaud said.
Chezaud says she unexpectedly received a notice of tenancy termination.
"They purposely ghosted me for several months, which means [a] situation where my current lease here expired," she said. "I thought and I guess I was very naive that they had an interest in me moving to the other side of the shopping center. That was a tactic to put me in a situation where they leased my place to Jersey Mike's."
Media outlets have reported a Jersey Mike's is set to take over the lease, opening in Café Soleil's location soon.
Now, Chezaud is running out of time to find a new location, stating she isn't able to stay in her current unit nor can she move to the unit on the south end of the plaza.
When asked if the tenant was being forced to leave, Brixmor Property Group said she was offered to stay but declined.
"For years, Dolphin Village has had a successful partnership with Café Soleil who has created a bakery beloved by the community.
"Last year, Café Soleil’s lease expired and we offered a lease renewal for the current location. However, Café Soleil requested a larger space, so we offered another location at Dolphin Village. Café Soleil has since declined to continue at Dolphin Village and plans to move the business to another center. Contrary to recent reporting, Café Soleil was not asked to change its menu or stop serving coffee and pastries.
"Based upon Café Soleil’s request for larger space, we moved forward in leasing its current location to another business.
"We are disappointed that we were unable to keep Café Soleil. We value small businesses which are integral to our shopping centers and the communities we serve. "
Chezaud said their statement is untruthful.
"Totally false," she said. "That's the reason that was given to me," she said speaking of her menu, "to let me know that we no longer had to deal in this shopping center. And I have it in writing. So that's what it is."
When asked what she'd like to say to her landlord and property company, she shared her disappointment.
"They should be ashamed. I've been a tenant for 10 years, I do much more than just serve coffee. Our entire team is here for our community," Chezaud said. "Ruining small families and kicking out small businesses is something that they should not be proud of."
Café Soleil now has nine days to find a new location.
"We hope that we can find a place to relocate," Chezaud said. "Unfortunately, we have less than 10 days to find a solution. So we're just praying that we can find a place to move, a new home that will be happy to welcome us."
Dozens of residents have shared their support for Café Soleil on social media. On Saturday, a protest march will take place at 10 a.m. in the Dolphin Village Plaza, boycotting the bakery's lease termination.
Malique Rankin is a general assignment reporter with 10 Tampa Bay. You can email her story ideas at mrankin@10tampabay.com and follow her Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram pages.