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Store closes; its clients worry

By Dong-Phuong Nguyen, Times Staff Writer
In print: Tuesday, April 15, 2008

Source Storz owner Dori Williams says she couldn’t pay the $8,800-a-month rent to keep her consignment shop open in Cory Lake Isles Professional Center.
	[BILL SERNE | Times (2006)]

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TAMPA — Dori Williams ran a high-end consignment store filled with items like designer purses and imported children's clothing. She was trendy and knowledgeable, making her customers feel like their items were in good hands.

But something went wrong at Source Storz, where Williams and her entire inventory disappeared from its Cory Lake Isles Professional Center shop overnight.

Now, months later, customers want their stuff back and some have even contacted the police.

"I hate seeing businesses go down," said Nicole Jeremie, who said she brought thousands of dollars worth of clothes and baby gear to Williams. "I just want to know where everybody's stuff is. It's been too many months now."

Williams' problems began in November, when she was unable to make rent on her shop. Unaware of the situation, Jeremie said she dropped off artwork at Source Storz and "a lady just took it from me like no big deal."

"The next morning, we drove by, and there was nothing in the store," said Jeremie, who lives in Cory Lake Isles. "I was like, 'What is going on?' "

Jeremie said she has e-mailed Williams but has not gotten a response.

Williams says she did nothing intentional to harm her customers. The shop was her dream, she said, and it just didn't do well in New Tampa.

Once Williams realized her store was doomed, she put an ad in the newspaper to warn her customers to retrieve their things. Few responded. Now, she's stuck with it, and she wants to return everything, she said. Some items are at a flea market; others are in storage. Her landlord has told her she's not allowed to keep any of the items at her home.

She said she loved her customers, even the eccentrics, but money is tight and she couldn't afford to spend anymore. She said monthly rent was $8,800.

"I had a paid-for car that I refinanced," she said. "I sold my diamond ring. I'm going through a divorce. When he is divorcing me, he's not going to pay my bills. Times are tough right now."

In part, she blames her business manager, Bill Moore,

"I believe that Bill wanted that business to work," she said. "I think at the end he did something wrong."

Tampa police Detective Curtis Allen, who investigates white-collar crimes, said detectives are looking into complaints lodged against both Williams and Moore, but he would not elaborate. Moore declined comment.

Another customer, Lindsy Johnston, said she cleaned out the closets of her Cory Lake Isles home and filled her Lincoln Navigator up to its roof with items in August. She drove to Source Storz and gave it her personal information. Williams was busy with other customers but assured her that she would inventory the items and get back to her.

Johnston, who had a baby soon after, didn't check back with the store for months, figuring she could just give the items time to sell. In January, she learned it had closed down.

"They seemed so nice," Johnston said. "My husband tells me all the time that I trust everyone. I guess that's what I get for being so trusting. I learned my lesson."

Williams said she hopes the drama cools down soon. "This is crazy, and it's probably going to get crazier, but it shouldn't," she said. "It's closed. I'm going to get a job and pay my bills."

Times staff writer Abbie Van Sickle contributed to this report.