Little Red Hen eviction fight in Seattle pushed to September trial
This story was first published on: mynorthwest.com.
A fierce eviction fight between iconic Seattle fixtures. Little Red Chickenand the landlord will continue his salary after the eviction hearing is postponed until the end of September.
The hearing was originally scheduled for April 24. According to King County Superior Court Judge Kent Liu, more time is needed to gather evidence for a “fair and effective resolution.”
According to RLD Group, the business’s landlord since 2022, the bar did not have a valid lease even before taking over the building. The landlord claimed in good faith that the bar was allowed to remain month-to-month, but the manager of The Little Red Hen disputed this claim, arguing that the new owners were trying to increase the rent.
Dominic Shim, the owner of Little Red Hen, claimed that his bar had a lease agreement with the previous building owner until 2030.
Little Red Hen is a country-themed bar that has been in business since 1933 and has been located in Seattle’s Green Lake neighborhood since 1968.
Dumpsters prove breaking point for ownership group Little Red Hen
Last year, there was tension between the bar owners and the bar due to a problem with the bar’s garbage disposal. Neighboring Wooden City Tavern has been paying most of The Little Red Hen’s trash fees for use of its dumpster for the past five years. Seattle Times reported. However, RDL Group terminated this agreement after taking over the property. The owner of The Little Red Hen estimated that this change would cost the business $40,000 annually.
RDL Group officially filed for eviction on November 5 after Shim refused to participate in lease negotiations. Since the eviction case, RLD Group lawyers claimed Shim has exhibited “increasingly strange and threatening behavior.”
“You want to (expletive) with me, I have nothing to lose. I politely asked you to leave me alone,” Shim allegedly wrote to RDL Group at 1:04 a.m. on June 12. Seattle Times. “You step on my feet, and I (expletive) with your entire family, including your daughter.”
Shim apologized for the email, stating that “the tone of this communication was incorrect.”
Spike mourns the loss of the Little Red Hen
“I think this is more than just a job closing the Little Red Hen in the Green Lake area,” KIRO host Spike O’Neill said. “The value it adds to our neighborhood, not only from a business perspective, but also from a cultural perspective and quality of life. Hey, pub is short for tavern, after all.”
“Should we mourn, and is it right to mourn when so many small businesses in this area are disappearing and being replaced by the lowest common denominator? These large national chains can afford to have a location that’s not doing so well because other stores will pick up the slack,” KIRO host Greg Tomlin said. “Whereas, if you’re a mom-and-pop shop, you’ve got to make it work, so to speak. You’ve got to hit the bottom line every month, or you could go out of business.”
“It’s sad to see this because it’s fundamentally changing some areas, and that’s very sad,” Tomlin added. “But I still don’t know what the solution is to a story like this. It’s sad.”
