Businesses abandoning troubled St. Matthews strip mall that closed after roof collapse

ST. MATTHEWS, Ky. (WDRB) -- Kathy Staton has made plenty of customers smile over the years at the Galleria of St. Matthews strip mall on Oechsli Avenue.

"We are a cosmetic non-dental teeth whitening salon," said Staton, whose pearly whites and radiant smile seem like fitting advertisements for her business.

But you won't find Staton's business, Maui Whitening, at the St. Matthews strip mall now or ever again.

"Never," she said bluntly.

Officials with Louisville Metro and St. Matthews suddenly and unexpectedly closed the strip mall indefinitely six weeks ago after a partial roof collapse.

Six weeks later, the hole once a couple feet wide now looks like a crater at least 12 feet in diameter.

"It's been like being pushed over a cliff and praying that your parachute opens," Staton said.

"It was like somebody just closed my business," co-owner Scott Southard added.

They feel that way because everything happened so fast, and they weren't getting answers about when they'd ever be able to re-open.

So they found a new home.

"We're at 9900 Shelbyville Rd. It's Suite 5B," Staton said. "We had to get back in business. Our phone was still ringing. We had no place to operate."

A sign on the door of Pretty Paws directs customers to its new location. (WDRB Photo)

Other businesses shuttered by the sudden roof collapse are doing the same thing, including Havana Rumba, which is moving to a new location on Shelbyville Road nearby, a clothing store, which has moved to Sears Avenue, and a pet groomer, which has moved to Hurstbourne Park Boulevard.

The other big mainstay, Del Frisco's, is also considering a move. Cathy Woods, the owner, said Del Frisco's has been inundated with calls and messages from loyal customers who are wondering what's next. Woods say she'd like to reopen at the same location in St. Matthews but can't wait much longer. As a result, she's eyeing a space on Main Street in downtown Louisville and could relocate Del Frisco's there next year. She said she's heard nothing from the landlord of the St. Matthews building.

The landlord, Enrique Pantoja, who's now suing a pair of companies that a lawsuit claims treated the roof with flame retardant and may have damaged the roof as a result, couldn't comment. At his office in St. Matthews, the door was locked, but lights inside were on. When WDRB News knocked on the door, someone inside turned off the lights and wouldn't come to the door. A phone call requesting comment from Pantoja was also never returned.

Staton isn't too surprised. She said her calls to Pantoja haven't been returned either.

"I'd like to know where my security deposit is," she said. "It would be nice just to know even what was going on, because a lot of people still ask us."

However, right now, her focus is on starting fresh.

The move hasn't been easy. The new location has taken a bite out of business. While the new location is near the busy intersection of Shelbyville Road and South Hurstbourne Parkway, it lacks foot traffic, signage and is tucked in the corner of an office park. Right now, Staton and Southard are forced to spend more money on online marketing to win back former clients and keep a steady stream of customers through the door.

However, neither have time to complain.

"I found the sign that's on the wall over here that you see as soon as you walk through the door. It says, 'Keep smiling,'" Staton said. "And that's what we do. Just roll with it."

"We'll make it work," Southard added. "But we have to make something work, because this is us."

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