Arabella’s Landing GM: Red Rooster Cafe Lease Revoked Due to 'Non-Payment of Rent'

Editor's Note: General Manager for Arabella’s Landing Marina, John Moist, released the following letter regarding the closure of Red Rooster Cafe to Patch on Saturday, Jan. 5, 2013:

My name is John Moist and I have been the General Manager for Arabella’s Landing Marina, owned by Stan and Judy Stearns, for ten years.  This year Arabella’s celebrates our 19th year in business as the premier destination marina in the south Puget Sound.  Located on the property are four spaces for lease.  The Red Rooster location is one of the four.  I am positive that if you ask the other tenants they will tell you what fair and honest people the Stearns are.  While we dislike engaging in he said she said dialogue, we feel that it is time to put an end to the untruths and false accusations spilling forth from social media comments regarding the closure of the Red Rooster Café and Collectables.

On December 28, 2012 Miss Jamie Radcliffe, owner the Red Rooster Café and Collectibles, was presented with a letter written by me, without written benefit of council on behalf of Stan and Judy Stearns and Arabella’s Landing Marina, revoking her lease effective January 1, 2013 due to non-payment of rent.  The amount due was in excess of $23,000.00.  Of that amount $15,600.00 was deferred for the period August 2010 through June 2011 in order to give her time to build her business.  She was required to repay that amount from receipts during the summer months when business should be excellent.  Additionally, Mr. Stearns loaned Miss Radcliffe the sum of $11,000.00 to purchase equipment and food.  All of these sums were detailed in her lease agreement and agreed to and signed by Miss Radcliffe.  

In late October Miss Radcliffe came to me and asked us to give her until the end of the year before evicting her.  Miss Radcliffe was aware that winter was upon her and she would be unable to pay her full rent as occurred in 2010 and 2011.  I passed this request along to Mr. Stearns.  Mr. Stearns told me numerous times, over the nearly two and a half years, that he simply did not want her to fail and was willing to gave her every opportunity to succeed but now enough was enough.  Anymore and his support and benevolence would turn into a very poor business decision.  

Of the 29 months Miss Radcliffe’s Lease Agreement was in effect Mr. Stearns deferred payments for a total of 11 months.  Miss Radcliffe paid monthly invoices in their entirety a total of 4 times and she paid in excess of the monthly invoices 4 times for a total overpayment of $2,208.00.  Of course this overpayment total went towards the months she was short or paid nothing.  The bottom line is Miss Radcliffe failed to pay her invoices in full a total of 10 out of 18 months.

The letter that I presented to Miss Radcliffe on December 28, 2012 was a “settlement agreement.”  In return for her walking away from the business in an orderly manner, leaving everythingbehind except for her roosters to include leaving the space clean she would be forgiven her debt of more than $34,000.00.  Miss Radcliffe said no to the offer.

There is no intent on the part of Arabella’s Landing Marina to lease the retail space to any third party who wants to reopen the Red Rooster Café.  Since December 28, 2012 Miss Radcliffe and/or her friends have been seen removing items from the restaurant. In addition, a walk through inspection on December 31, 2012 revealed the space to be filthy. 

These numbers were taken from QuickBooks and are to the best of my knowledge accurate.

It is my hope that this statement puts to rest any and all thoughts that the Stearns are anything but honest hard working people who care deeply about the future of Gig Harbor.

John Moist, January 5, 2013