This has been a long time coming. Business ownership can be difficult and this is why many hairstylists choose to become tenants within a salon suite setting. I've been a tenant for 1/2 of a decade. This is what I have to do to literally FIGHT another black business owner (Kevin Davis) to stay in business post pandemic.
To get basic amenities that are promised in their advertisements for tenants, government intervention has had to occur more times than not. Here is a YouTube playlist logging this drama for legal purposes.
(Top to bottom : LL Cool J, Kevin Davin-franchise , Franchisor-Gina Rivera)
Our landlord happens to be the number one franchisee for Phenix Salon Suites Kevin Davis. He is also entering into a multi-million dollar real estate deal for more salon suites with LL Cool J. The fact that I had to make this video below. speaks volumes of what kind of slumlord he is. Just TRIFLING.
(Phenix Salon Suites - Hyattsville, Maryland explanation of airing the 'dirty laundry')
He rips off his investors where they have had to file lawsuits against him. To add insult to injury this is a black man treating black people(black investors, black tenants, black employees)in this manner. It is the epitome of disgusting.
Many times when I tell people what I'm going through they assume that the owners in these commercial settings are white people but this couldn't be further from the truth. He has taken this franchise & trashed it.
(My client Lolita who volunteered to help me as a witness to Kevin Davis' slumlord ways)
Clearly Ms. Rivera(the franchisor) doesn't care because at the end of the day liability falls on the franchisee. I'm only writing this blog article because I know somebody somewhere has googled this man's name trying to figure out " Is this only happening to me?" And the answer is "no".
(source: indeed.com)
He is a slumlord who hires incompetent minions, thugs and goons to run his organization to conserve costs just like any ruthless millionaire landlord does.
(Video compilation of the dirty premises. Hyattsville, Maryland)
The premises regularly is dirty unless 1 of the 3 things have happened
● Government intervention
● Tenants got fed up & cleaned the premises
● Internet or public exposure (.....like this blog article & YouTube videos)
To be clear, this article serves a few purposes
A paper trail in case this lunatic tries to pull an illegal eviction attempt (again 🙄)
As assistance for tenants unable to understand "why" they're so incompetent. (Internet tag lines are powerful. )
I've found as an entrepreneur (like being a private consumer), government intervention is RARE. No one is going to help you but YOU. And I mean NO ONE. I made a dua to Allah & I've been guided how to tackle this mess without a lawyer.
Your co tenants will not vouch for you. The employees of the organization will not vouch for you.
(One of MANY emails I've sent to Kevin Davis. )
Why? Because these tyrants run the business similar to a plantation. The 1 thing they don't want is EXPOSURE. Especially the kind with a paper trail.
These millionaires open salon suites with the understanding that independent hairstylists don't have the capital, savings or "know how" of how to navigate in the rough waters of business ownership. I don't care how much I've gone through, the solution just about all government agencies point me to is to seek legal counsel.
(Letter from a government agency in the State of Maryland)
Business attorneys are not cheap. So it comes down to do you know the law or not and do you know how to articulate it and get your message across in such a way to put these people in their place.
I have a savings club! For those interested, the link is here. You must first be a PAID member of the business curriculum.
