Termination of lease impacts a pair of Tulsa businesses

A Tulsa Brookside shake-up has two long-time businesses packing up and another one expanding. <br/><br/>Wild Oats Organic Market is seeing double digit growth and they need more room, but that means two

Thursday, December 1st 2005, 10:25 am

By: News On 6

A Tulsa Brookside shake-up has two long-time businesses packing up and another one expanding.

Wild Oats Organic Market is seeing double digit growth and they need more room, but that means two other stores, one, a Brookside landmark, have to move out by the end of the year.

News on 6 reporter Ashli Sims there is a mural in Casa Laredo, which is a family history of the restaurant. It is a family photo album, including the restaurant's first cook and famous customers. And its one of those things, Edith Rojas won't be able to take with her. "This is my whole life this is the only place I work since I get to the United States." After 37 years, Casa Laredo has lost its lease and the woman who worked her way up from the kitchen to become the owner is searching for a new home for the Tulsa landmark. â€œCan you imagine to move all this, finding a place first. How can you find it so soon, it's almost impossible."

The nearby Herb Shoppe is in the same situation. Sandra Foster: "I'm not gonna miss the six days a week but I am gonna miss my customers the customers that have become friends and just the camaraderie that we have its like losing a member of the family."

While Casa Laredo and the Herb Shoppe are preparing to say good bye. Wild Oats the natural and organic food store is expanding. Valerie Mosley with Wild Oats: "our business has grown in the double digits for the past few years and so we're outgrowing the space, so its time to move."

Venture Properties owns this complex. When one shop moved out, the owner offered the space to Wild Oats. It wasnâ€™t enough, so the property owner offered them the whole east end of the complex. Foster and Rojas were notified at the end of October their leases were terminated.

The property owners say they thought everyone in the area knew what was going on for sometime, but Edith Rojas says if she knew she wouldn't have spent $40,000 renovating. Venture Properties says they gave both the Herb Shoppe and Casa Laredo twice as much notice as the law requires.

The owner of Casa Laredo is looking for a new location, either in Brookside or the new Riverwalk Crossing in Jenks. The Herb Shoppe is closing its doors for good, but plans an Internet store.