Locals rallied to save this family-run market earlier this year. Now it’s being evicted
Spreading holiday cheer is what the Patterson family is known for.
Shocking news came with a 30-day “termination of tenancy” notice to business owners Richard and Shelli Patterson on Nov. 28.
The high school sweethearts own and run Patterson’s Farm Market on 38th Avenue in Gig Harbor.
The market is known for its fall pumpkin patch, Christmas trees, and Mother’s Day flower baskets.
This year Christmas trees were up and ready to buy the Monday before Thanksgiving. A week later, the Pattersons learned it would be their last tree sale season.
The notice to vacate the property means they need to be out six days after Christmas.
The Pattersons said they hoped they’d be given more notice. Instead, they said they found themselves trying to clear out the market during their tree sale.
“It’s more than sad,” Shelli Patterson said. “We’ve been doing this for 43 years. This place is truly my whole life.”
She said the landlord wants to do something else with the property.
County Assessor-Treasurer records list the owner as 56th Street and 38th Avenue LLC. The Gateway reached out about their plans. They did not immediately respond.
“We’re not behind on rent or anything like that,” Shelli Patterson said. “They just have different plans for the property.”
The Pattersons put the eviction notice at the checkout stand to let shoppers know they’re leaving.
“I feel numb and speechless,” Hailey Patterson, 28, daughter of the owners, told the Gateway Tuesday, Dec. 20. “I’ve been here my whole entire life.”
She helps her parents run the market.
“We make a good team,” Shelli Patterson said.
They work alongside each other to get the market ready each year.
“My daughter is who is keeping me positive during this unimaginable time,” Shelli Patterson said. “We make everything ourselves and I get to look up everyday and see my daughter’s designs all over this place.”
Hailey Patterson designs wreaths, centerpieces, and other items.
“I think this place means a lot to people because it’s a tradition for some,” she said about the market.
What’s next for Patterson’s?
Elizabeth Fling lives a half mile down the street.
She read on Facebook that Patterson’s planned to close and came to show her support, she told the Gateway.
“We’re heartbroken,” Fling said. “It’s the cutest place. We’re going to miss it.”
Instead of mistletoe, the Pattersons make and sell “kissing balls,” something they discovered from an ex-employee from Holland. They tie a cluster of evergreen branches together with a festive bow. Anyone who walks underneath them receives blessings, Shelli Patterson said.
“No one does what we do,” her daughter said. “We try to offer different things.”
Shelli Patterson reminisced as she walked the property Dec. 20.
“We built our little red barn during our first years of business,” she said with tears in her eyes. “It’s been here ever since. Over the years we hosted field trips for preschool classes in there and we would read books together in the barn.”
Rick and Shelli Patterson live just a few blocks from the market.
“We’ve been here so long, it’s going to be hard not coming here everyday,” Shelli Patterson said. “Especially so suddenly.”
During the height of COVID-19, the market experienced financial strain and stayed closed for almost two years.
This year there weren’t any Mother’s Day flowers or June strawberries, but the market was able to open for business July 2.
The community rallied to support Patterson’s after Leigh Yuhasz, a 35-year customer of the market created a GoFundMe page that raised almost $14,000.
Fling said she hopes Patterson’s continues somewhere.
They’re determined to find somewhere to move.
“Old doors close so new ones can open,” Rick Patterson said.
The family said they want to continue what they do in Gig Harbor.
“We’ve had customers tell us they’ll follow us wherever we go,” Shelli Patterson said. “People have been coming in and telling us how much the community is going to miss us. Those words mean more than anything.”
