Rising temperatures — and rising tension — caused a popular Wilkes-Barre coffee shop to close early again on Wednesday.
For the third time in less than a week, Abide Coffeehouse shut its doors as the indoor temperature approached 100 degrees. Earlier in the day, the shop’s owners reached out to city leaders, seeking a solution or guidance in dealing with the property owner.
As Abide has made its situation public on social media, and criticized landlord Howard Klotzkin, hundreds of customers posted messages of support.
“We're weeks away from no return … We try to handle our business in-house, but he's made that impossible now, and now he's retaliating,” said Austin Shission, who owns Abide with his family. “We're discussing closing indefinitely because our equipment keeps failing, so we can't keep up with the heat in the shop. So we're losing food, our ice machine's not working.”
Meanwhile, Klotzkin disputes the allegations and said a new heating and air conditioning system should have the coffee shop cool by the end of the week.
“I felt that they shouldn't have posted those things up on Facebook,” said Klotzkin, of New Jersey, whose company HK PA Properties owns multiple buildings downtown. “Of course, they have the right to do whatever they want to, but you know, I'm a good landlord.”
Dispute with landlord
The Shission family acquired Abide, 23 W. Market St., in 2022. Shortly after, Klotzkin purchased the building.
Klotzkin said he knows that Abide helps the community in many ways, and that’s why he’s willing to charge a monthly rent of about half of the $4,500 market value.
In the email to city leaders on Wednesday, the Shissions allege that Klotzkin wants Abide to move or close.
“We believe this is deliberate. A landlord who wants us gone … is not failing to repair this building by accident. We believe the conditions here have been allowed to worsen, and made worse, to force us out,” they wrote. “That is our conclusion after years in this building.”
Klotzkin disagrees.
“From my perspective, I'm happy if they stay. I'm happy if they go,” the landlord said. “Would I prefer to get more money in rent? Sure. But I do everything I can to satisfy their needs.”
Klotzkin said the new HVAC unit being installed this week — which was ordered seven weeks ago — cost $30,000.
Other allegations
The Abide owners listed many grievances in the email to city leaders, including fire alarms emptying the business multiple times a week. Klotzkin said the system was disconnected prior to him buying the building and that he reconnected it. Tenants in 10 apartments upstairs often cause the alarms to go off, and there is nothing wrong with the system, the landlord said.
When flooding from a water heater upstairs caused the shop to close for months, Klotzkin said both his and Abide’s insurance companies disputed payment. Abide sued Klotzkin, and he paid them $48,000, he said.
Previously unreliable heat should be fixed with the installation of the HVAC system, he said.
Shortly before noon on Wednesday, Klotzkin sent an employee into Abide to take two industrial fans that he had provided, Austin Shission said. That made an already-warm coffeeshop become unbearable.
Shission alleges that removing the fans was retaliation for making the situation public.
Klotzkin said crews working on spackling in college dorms nearby needed the fans and that he had no obligation to provide the fans to Abide.
Seeking help from Wilkes-Barre
The Shissions now seek guidance from the city.
“We do not know what tools the city has … Abide Coffeehouse is close to closing permanently or leaving Wilkes-Barre. We do not want either one,” they wrote. “Is there anything the city can do to help us stay open?”
Austin Shission said that even if Klotzkin is doing nothing illegal, he is morally wrong.
“We employ people here, we pay taxes here, and we open every morning on West Market Street,” the email states. “We would rather not disappear.”
Abide offered the city emails, closure records, loss documentation and a complete incident timeline. Klotzkin told WVIA News on Wednesday he would also supply copies of invoices and other documentation if asked.
Efforts to reach Wilkes-Barre Mayor George Brown were not immediately successful Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Austin Shission hopes for cooler days ahead.
“Our customers are backing us, and we really appreciate it,” he said. “The words of encouragement are great, but like I said, when it comes down to it, there's a financial cost here on whether we move or not, or we continue. And right now, there's no good avenue the way it looks.”
