Needham Shop Owner Faces Uncertainty As Eviction Ban Expires

NEEDHAM, MA — Maria Mavrogiannis, a 76-year-old Needham tailor, hadn't missed a rent payment in 30 years before the coronavirus crisis hit earlier this year. Now, with a state ban on eviction expired, she may lose her business.

“No one needs tailoring, no one is buying dresses. I don’t know what to do,” Mavrogiannis said.

Massachusetts’ moratorium on evictions, which prevents landlords from evicting most small business tenants during the pandemic, expired on Saturday. On Monday, Gov. Charlie Baker said a new $171 million plan will help renters and landlords as the state's eviction ban ended over the weekend, but tenants and landlords are still facing uncertainty.

Alfred Greymont, Mavrogiannis's landlord, declined comment through his lawyer, Nicholas Shaheen.

Court dockets show a summary process for Mavrogiannis’ eviction started in December and by Dec. 20 the judge ruled in favor of Greymont, but the case was "Disposed for statistical purposes."

Mavrogiannis said the December eviction was separate from the recent pandemic eviction and based on a miscommunication over the shop name and ownership. The last time Mavrogiannis said she heard from the property manager was in August when he threatened eviction again. If moving were an option, Mavrogiannis said she would take it, but she has too much equipment and inventory and no money to move it.

“Where can I move? I have the conveyor belt and machines,” she said.

In September, Mavrogiannis returned to her tailor shop, Maria's Dress Shop and Tailoring, for the first time in six months to start working again, despite being at high risk for the COVID-19 virus. It’s a last ditch effort to bring enough business back to pay her $1,500 rent as she fights eviction in court and tries to stay in business.

Greg Reibman, President of the Newton-Needham Chamber of Commerce said business owners across the region and the state are in Mavrogiannis’ same situation.

“It’s an all too typical circumstance right now,” Reibman said.

At 76, Mavrogiannis is still working because she can't afford not to. When her husband died last year, she didn't have enough money for his gravestone. She still hasn't been able to scrape that together. And in the past 30 years that she's owned the shop, it's given her purpose and a sense of community. The eviction notices hit her personally, Mavrogiannis said her shop, at 40 Chestnut St., was one of the first on the strip.

That six months was the longest Mavrogiannis has gone without working. She took a vacation in 2002 to Israel for two weeks. Even then, she didn’t close the shop, but left a friend in charge.

She’s the only employee at her business and, given her age and a pre-existing asthma condition, her family talked her into temporarily closing and staying safe with them on the Cape, at least until things blew over.

She reached out to Attorney General Maura Healey’s office, hoping to get answers about her options. Healey’s office told Mavrogiannis to prioritize her health and stay home if she needed to and eventually, she would be able to take her landlord to court.

Like many other business owners hoping to wait out the pandemic, Mavrogiannis quickly realized it would take more than a few weeks for things to normalize, if they ever would. With no end in sight, she shifted gears and reopened in an effort to save her business. But it hasn’t been enough.

Distress in her voice, she begins to explain how her business has been in the same building for three decades, and she’s made it a point to pay her bills on time. She stops every few sentences in disbelief.

“I don’t know- I really just don’t know,” she repeats.

She had a loyal customer base, but as more people work from home it has changed her industry.

Her shop is filled with over $60,000 worth of dresses, Mavrogiannis estimates. But with weddings getting canceled and events postponed, it has been harder to find customers to sell to. She’s not alone.

When the pandemic started and the federal government offered Paycheck Protection Program loans, 929 businesses in Needham received loans, but it was only temporary relief, Reibman said. Seven months later, the money’s run out, leaving businesses still struggling to make ends meet.

“We’re hearing from family businesses that can’t do it anymore,” Reibman said, adding that the lack of funds and options for businesses is tough news to give owners. “Even the state level doesn’t have the kind of money that we really need — what we really need is a federal stimulus,” he said.

Landlords are also hurting, Reibman said.

“This is their livelihood, so if they don’t have the money they’re gonna have a hard time paying their bank and mortgage,” Reibman said. “It’s definitely trickle-down and makes it hard for everyone.”

Loyal customers like Mary McMillan are trying to support Mavrogiannis’ business where they can, bringing clothes to be altered and passing time with her in the lonely shop.

“I’ve been going to Maria for 25 years,” McMillan said, “There’s not many customers these days.”

Back when business was good, Mavrogiannis could bring home $1,000 a week. Now, she said she can hardly break $130 a week, which was her weekly salary when she started working in Jamaica Plain in 1961.

“I can’t sleep, I can’t pay my mortgage, I’m lucky the gas company gave me a discount but I don’t know what to do,” Mavrogiannis said.

Federal and state officials seem just as lost, as little to no definitive answers or promises of financial support come from up high. Mavrogiannis and thousands of other small business owners across the Commonwealth are left in the dark as the pandemic creeps toward its third peak.

For small businesses in Needham seeking assistance, MSBDC and SCORE have multilingual counselors and mentors and Massachusetts Growth Capital Corporation has put together Technical Assistance and Multilingual Translation services for the Paycheck Protection Program. More information can be found with the Newton-Needham Chamber of Commerce.