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Hernando Today

Shop Owner Grieves Over Lost Dream

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By TONY HOLT, Hernando Today

Published: January 9, 2008

SPRING HILL - All Terry Majewski wanted was to run a small business.

When her business partner bailed out for financial reasons, all she wanted was to keep it going until she could sell it.

When someone told her he wanted to buy it, but had "little money to spend," all she wanted was to accommodate him.

On Sunday, Dec. 30, Majewski crossed her legs and sat in the middle of a dark, empty store. There was no electricity. No merchandise. No sign on the front window. The business never got sold.
Candy Bouquet was gone. It took less than 11 months.

"Nothing was above board with these people ... nothing," she said.
Majewski put her faith in a couple of business brokers she had never met. She signed something she thought was a counter offer.

Before doing so, she asked if it was a binding contract. The business owner was told it was not.

The woman who put the papers in front of her and watched her sign them called later and told her, "We're under contract," Majewski said.

This week she goes to court. She hopes to convince a judge she was suckered.

"I'm at fault because I signed something I didn't understand," she admitted.

She flicked ashes off the tip of her cigarette into the empty sink. There was a candle burning nearby. It was the only light in the abandoned store at 6139 Deltona Blvd.

There were a few bouquets left, but most of the merchandise was either donated or sold to another franchise.

Majewski's crying was not audible, but the flickering candle shined just enough light to reveal a misty pair of eyes.

She wiped her cheeks with her hands and smiled when she recalled working into the wee hours of the morning putting together bouquets decorated with lollipops, ribbons, bows and truffles in gold wrappers.

The man who wanted to buy the store was the business partner of the broker who talked Majewski into signing the papers.

He told her he would be interested in the business if she sold it cheap. He walked through and looked at the space. He saw how the bouquets of candy were made and nodded his head. He never made eye contact with Majewski.

That memory has not left her.

"He stayed away from me and never looked at me," she said. "I'll never forget that."

Soon after the deal was dropped, the man sued her for "extensive damages" and "breach of contract."
Majewski is still fighting her legal battles - both with the man who wanted to buy the store and the owner of the Spring Hill-based brokerage firm. Because the matter is still in litigation, the names of the plaintiffs are being withheld.

Attempts to contact Majewski's attorney were unsuccessful.
Candy Bouquet was profiled in a story published 10 months ago in Hernando Today. Majewski and her business partner were long-time friends who worked together at a Citrus County hospital.

When a Candy Bouquet store in Inverness delivered a set of bouquets to their workplace, it did not take them long to decide to open a store of their own.
Majewski went from being a full-time nurse to part-time so she could devote more time to the business. She said she was thrilled with the job because it was a welcome diversion from the doom and gloom associated with hospitals.

"I see a lot of pain and suffering, so it's nice to do something fun," she said in March. "I wanted to do something that made people happy."

The Spring Hill store kicked off on a high note. Mother's Day weekend was especially lucrative for the upstart business. Hundreds of bouquets were made and sold.
Majewski and her partner, who did not participate in this story, spent their own money to open the franchise. They applied for a business loan after the ribbon cutting and were subsequently turned down.

"Banks are more willing to loan people money to open a business rather than to keep a business going," Majewski said. "We didn't know that at the time."

By June, her business partner signed away his portion to her. The financial burden was too great for him.

He advised Majewski to do the same - cut her losses and leave Candy Bouquet behind - but she refused. She still had to pay rent for use of the store space. She also was confident she could sell it.

She still thought selling the store was the right decision.

"I really wish I could have sold it," she said. "I just chose the wrong people."

Majewski's house is cluttered with bags and boxes of candies and other supplies from her store. What could not fit in her home was put inside a storage unit. She hopes to sell those items at a later date.

Her German Shepherd has spent the last few nights growling at the unfamiliar boxes occupying the floor space. He has less room to roam. She felt sorry for him.

She took a drag from her cigarette and scanned the empty room again.

"I don't know how it got this bad," she said.

Reporter Tony Holt can be reached at 352-544-5283 or wholt@hernandotoday.com.

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