HENRY CO., Va. – For nearly a year, employees and customers at a Collinsville strip mall have endured summer heat without reliable air conditioning, forcing some businesses to cut hours and, in one case, temporarily close.
At Barking Beauties, fans line the doorway and blackout curtains cover windows in an effort to keep temperatures manageable inside the pet grooming shop.
“It gets very humid in here,” co-owner Kellie Violante said. “I’m using industrial-style dryers and heaters in here. It’s hot.”
A temperature reading taken inside the business showed conditions reaching 85 degrees, compared with 68 degrees inside WSLS’s studio.
Violante said the business has relied on portable cooling units and fans to continue operating.
“You can tell it’s a major temperature change in here,” she said. “We’ve had to limit our business hours. We come in here a lot earlier now, before it gets super hot.”
Violante estimated the business has spent more than $1,500 on portable air conditioners and fans over the past two summers.
Barking Beauties is not the only business affected. Nearby Sugar Street Bakery closed for part of the week because of the heat inside the building.
Property owner Mason Davis said replacing the strip mall’s air conditioning systems has been delayed because of the high cost.
“Both of the AC units are completely useless, and I’ve been trying to obtain a loan because the total cost is going to be about $34,000 to $35,000,” Davis said. “They don’t have that much laying around.”
Davis said he has offered affected tenants rent discounts or waived rent entirely while the air conditioning problems continue.
Barking Beauties plans to relocate June 1, but other businesses in the strip mall could face the remainder of the summer without working air conditioning.