Kings Mountain business closed after building condemned

A Kings Mountain business shut down after the city condemned the building.

Uncommon Artisans, formerly located at 124 W. Mountain St. in Kings Mountain, was created to sell locally-made items.

According to Uncommon Artisans owner Cobb Lahti, the business was born from necessity in 2020, the first year of the pandemic.

They had been creating and selling printed T-shirts at pop-up markets around Gaston and Cleveland counties.

“When they shut it all down on March 16th, I remember distinctly… We were all going to be doing markets, me and my friends, and we were all stuck up with nowhere to go. So, I opened my doors in August, four months later,” Lahti said.

“We made it through COVID, that was our first challenge, and it actually went pretty well,” Lahti said.

In 2022, Lahti and the 18 other local artisans selling items at the store were faced with a new obstacle.

“Last year, we had streetscaping, and it shut down the road in front of us for six months,” Lahti said.

Despite the street in front of the store being turned into red dirt for nearly eight months, Lahti did not shut the store down for the year.

The road work was crippling for the small business, Lahti said.

“I lost thousands of dollars last year,” Lahti said, but 2023 was looking much better. “I had doubled my sales from last year by June 1st of this year.”

According to Lahti, the store was on track to make $100,000 this year, before a neighboring building owner came over to let Lahti know that the city had condemned the building including the space they leased.

“The city never contacted me,” Lahti said.

In an official document, the city of Kings Mountain states that they issued an Order to Repair the building to its trustee, Brenton Begley.

Begley did not attend the hearing on this issue, held on March 31, though the city states in the document that Begley was informed of the hearing.

After finding out the building was set to be condemned, Lahti attended the city of Kings Mountain’s July 25 meeting, where the decision to condemn was made official.

Lahti was handed an official condemnation notice two days later.

The city’s official condemnation notice cites code violations in the structure including the roof, electrical wiring, plumbing, and more.

Also at the July 25 meeting, Kings Mountain City Council agreed to give $2,500 to Lahti as, “a business that had been displaced by city actions.”

“I have not seen that money. That was a month ago, and I’ve not seen a thing,” Lahti said.

According to Lahti, they may be forced to relocate to a different city altogether.

Lahti stated that rent for many business spaces in downtown Kings Mountain is sitting around $3,500 per month.

At their previous space, they were paying less than $1,000 per month.

“Unless Kings Mountain gives me the money they promised me, I don’t see how I can continue,” Lahti said. “My heart is broken.”

“I’ve done nothing but good for that damn town,” they added.

According to Lahti, they had built quite the community between the store’s artisans and their regular customers.

Customers have contributed to the store’s GoFundMe and raised roughly $1,000 to help Uncommon Artisans with relocation fees.

“The community, they got me $1,000. That’s what I’m grateful for,” Lahti said.

Lahti is hoping to be in a new building soon, and several artisans have plans to move with them when they go.

“I was supporting all of these people. It was just a real community,” Lahti said.

This article originally appeared on The Gaston Gazette: Kings Mountain business closed after building condemned