14th Street Pet Store and Comic Book Shop Closing

In yet another sign of the struggling market for local retailers along 14th Street, we have some sad news to report regarding a couple of local neighborhood businesses:

Linda Welch, owner of environmentally friendly pet supply shop Green Pets and comic book shop Big Monkey Comics has told us that both establishments will soon be shuttering due to the loss of their lease at their current location. Although a definitive closing date for each store is not yet known, the longtime 14th Street establishments will likely vacate their current homes sometime in the next 2 to 6 months. According to Welch, the two businesses are victims of rising commercial lease rates along 14th Street.

Welch indicated that she is exploring options for reopening both businesses in new locations. Green Pets might end up in the recently completed View 14 building at 14th and Belmont, which was developed in part by fellow 14th Street business owner (Universal Gear) David Franco. As for Big Monkey Comics, its future is a bit more uncertain.

The inevitable question that arises from this is what might take the space of these businesses? Nothing is certain yet of course, but we have heard that preliminary discussions are underway to bring in a "sex ed" (sex club?) entity called "WholeDC" on the second floor.

And no, we're not kidding.