PT Pet Supply in Webster, Massachusetts, is a small, family-owned pet store and groomer that has relied on its illuminated sign, personalized with photos of its owner Yolanda DeGaetano’s pets, to keep customers coming in the doors.
PT Pet Supply Manager Nina Barbare said, “It was cute, it was big, it had a dog, a cat, a bird, I think it was a guinea pig, it had our logo ‘where pets are people too.’”
But on Wednesday while the owner was on vacation, that sign was replaced with this – as the new Cornerstone Bank next door put up these new signs.
Barbare said, “Nobody talked to Yolanda about it, that’s her sign, that’s her business, that’s how people see us and now there’s just a rinky dinky little sign that you can’t even see.”
The sudden switch has angered some nearby small businesses and caused confusion for customers.
PT Pet Supply customer Todd Watkins said, “I really couldn’t see it, so I almost drove by the parking lot to be honest with you.”
PT Pet Supply customer Kathy O’Connor said, “I don’t know why they think they have the right to even do that?”
Local
In-depth news coverage of the Greater Boston Area.
So we checked with Webster’s Code Enforcement Inspectors and pulled the permits – and it turns out property owner Paul Karapanos signed off on it.
“There was a miscommunication on how and what was supposed to take place,” said Karapanos, “I assumed, and I shouldn’t have, that it was only the top part.”
Karapanos says he is already working on getting PT Pet Supply’s original sign or an even better one, back up on the sign posts.
Karapanos said, "My thought it let’s go forward and get it solved."
We reached out to Cornerstone Bank to try to find out why they didn’t contact PT Pet Supply directly or ask them if they could replace their sign, but they didn’t return our calls seeking comment.
The owner of PT Pet Supply says after we started digging into it, the bank contacted her and set up a meeting for Friday.
