Sunny Paws Market

Hi, we're Tessa and Jennell, owners of Sunny Paws Market! We find ourselves in a situation in which we were not prepared for. We decided to fundraise, to help move our business forward, after our General Contractor took most of our money, providing very little work, and now refusing to return any of our funds and materials.

Long story short, we signed a contract in October 2021, with a local General Contractor, to oversee retail tenant improvements for a Vanilla Buildout; empty retail space needing walls, HVAC, Electrical, Plumbing and anything necessary to function as a business.

We used our life savings to follow our dream of owning and operating a small business. We thought a pet supply store was the best way to offer a modest living for our family of 7, house full of animals, all while in turn offering our community, an affordable and healthy pet supply store.

When we signed the contract with the General Contractor, he stated, "Once the permits were approved by the city, the completed turn around date would be 30 days or so." At first, 30 days seemed like a quick turnaround, but as the General Contractor explained, the space is small, and our decor is minimal compared to other commercial spaces. Our permit was approved in mid-December of 2021. With the holidays around the corner, we understood the project wouldn't begin until the first week of Janurary. Work did start but not without a hiccup. The General Contractor explained the mechanical subcontractor who was hired to install the HVAC system quit over a dispute on cost. Orignally, the plan was for one unit HVAC system; however, the engineer calculations stated the space called for a split system, rather than one unit. Therefore, the mechanical subcontractor underbid the job and asked for an additional $12,000 to complete the job. My partner and I agreed it was a steep increase, and we would find another subcontractor. It needs to be mentioned, on Feburary 1st, we gave the General Contractor a cashiers check for $3,500 for the additional HVAC unit to accommodate the plans for a split system. While we continued to look for another mechanical subcontractor, electrical and plumbing subcontractors were hard at work. We had our first inspection from the City of Buda on Feburary 1st.

The agreement we had with the General Contractor was as follows: 50% down and 25% per phase. In October, when we signed the contract, we gave the General Contractor $35,000, getting him started on the project, along with hiring an architect and engineer. Phase 2 started on Feburary 1st, after passing the first inspection. This is when the relationship with our contractor took a turn. We gave him a cashiers check for $17,500 to start with Phase 2 items, along with the $3,500 check for the second unit. To get started on Phase 2, the trench with the rough in plumbing needed to be filled in. Without the trench filled in, the concrete could not be laid.

Central Texas was scheduled for bad weather: ice storm 2022. The freeze came and went; we reached out to the General Contractor on the following Monday, February 7th, to get a progress update. We didn't get a response until the 8th, stating, "due to the weather, no work could be done." We followed up by driving to the store, to find the trench had yet to be filled in. When we caught the general contractor in a lie, he became snotty with us. The general contractor didn't have his assistants fill in the trench until Wednesday. Only then were the concrete workers able to start their work a whole week later than stated.

On Saturday, Feb 12th, we showed up unexpectedly to the store to check on progress. The general contractor happened to have a bandage on his left hand. He proceeded to state, "I didn’t want to tell you this, but the other day I brought in a propane tank to heat up the space during the cold snap, in order to lay the concrete". He and another ended up blowing up the tank along with his left hand and forearm. He said he was fine and mentioned that the concrete job would be completed by Sunday the 13th. The Super Bowl came and went. I showed up to the store on Monday the 14th to find the concrete job still wasn't done. The concrete workers did a p**s poor job, and in the process, they caused damage to newly built custom made fixtures, newly laid plumbing and layong rough and uneven cement, which needs to be replaced. The concrete subcontractors mixed the cement openly in our store, tapping into the water supply. They left standing water on our wooden shelving ,causing the wood to be saturated and rippling. It compromised the wood to be useless for weight bearing. Furthermore, we found wet concrete in two of our three drainage pipes, which now need to be repaired. They smoked ci******es in our store, causing the drywall to absorb the smell, leaving 54 pieces that haven’t been used to be completely ruined. Our store was left quite a mess.

We immediately contacted the general contractor to state and document our concerns. He laughed through text, "LOL," where he stated, "We were lucky that we were there." That's when I knew we were in trouble. The contractor should be there through every step of the process. When we had concerns, he should have taken our concerns into consideration instead of blaming us for his lack of oversight. To our surprise, he followed up by asking for more money. It were too many red flags to look past. We immediately started asking for receipts, proof of purchases, and all materials that had been purchased with Sunny Paws Market funds. He refused.

At this point, he has over $40,000 of our funds that we need to finish our project. Our attorneys are in talks; however, he's refusing to return any of our money and has failed to provide any receipts, proof of purchases, or accountability for the project.

We need your help. If you donate and are in the Buda, TX area, we'd love to repay you with free dog washes. Thank you for your support.

https://gofund.me/432ad300