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Appeals Court Won't Review Drugstore Case, Rossi Will Leave
Three-year-old case over Village fixture is complete
Bloxham wants Rossi out
By Steve Enders
It's been a long battle, but it's over. The Saratoga Drugstore, a longtime fixture in the Village, will soon close its doors.
On July 1 the Sixth District Court of Appeals notified attorneys on both sides that it is refusing to hear an appeal of its decision last month that reversed a trial judge's opinion saying the drugstore could stay, and that Ray Rossi should collect court fees.
The appeals court overturned the trial judgment last month, which originally said Rossi should be awarded $67,000 in court fees and be allowed to keep his store. Instead, the state appellate court found in landlord Marcelle Bloxham's favor, and said no agreement had ever been made on a lease for the store. Additionally, the court did not award fees to either party.
In response to the ruling, Bloxham's attorney Bernd Schmidt said his client is distraught because of the case and wants Rossi out of the store. "He could go to the Supreme Court, but these kinds of cases rarely get reviewed," Schmidt said. "This has been hard on [Bloxham], and it's been hard on me. She's happy, and she's informed me that she'd like to see Rossi move out at his earliest convenience."
Schmidt said that should happen within a month, after court formalities are completed.
Ray Rossi, who's been at the helm of the drugstore for 21 years, said he expected the decision, but called it "sad."
"This will be the end of the drugstore," he said just after learning the news from his attorney. "It's been a wonderful 21 years, and it's been great for me, my wife and my kids. It's sad that it's coming to an end."
Schmidt expressed confidence in his case, but so did Rossi's attorney, Ron Rossi.
Ron and Ray Rossi are not related.
"I thought we had an 85 percent to 90 percent chance we'd win this appeal," Ron Rossi said. "We're done."
He continued, "Who won? How many years were we in litigation? Two or three years? They spent thousands of dollars in attorney's fees. How much are they going to have to get in rent to make up for what they spent in attorney's fees?"
Schmidt said his client also will be seeking payment for rent owed on the store during the time the case has been in litigation. Currently, Schmidt said, Ray Rossi pays about $1.40 per square foot, while others in the same brick building pay up to $2.60. For the duration of the case, Schmidt says, Rossi owes about what he's paid in rent over the years.
Rossi appealed the court's ruling based on the credibility of witnesses in the trial case, as well as the reputation of the presiding judge in the matter. During the trial, court documents labeled Alden Bloxham, who helped negotiate the lease, as an unreliable witness whose recollection of various events wasn't solid. That same court then went on to rule in Rossi's favor, and said he should be able to maintain his lease.
Ron Rossi also argued that Judge Conrad Rushing, who had been elected Judge of the Year in Santa Clara County, has an excellent reputation, and therefore his opinion should carry more weight.
Rossi has leased the drugstore on Big Basin Way since 1978, originally entering into a five-year lease plus an option to renew for another five years with Bloxham's mother, Aimee Chabre.
Another five-year lease signed in 1987 also contained a stipulation that any lawsuit between the two parties would result in the prevailing party collecting attorney's fees. The lease expired in 1992, and Rossi continued leasing on a month-to-month basis.
Later that year, however, the Bloxhams and Rossi came to an agreement on a new 10-year lease that was written and signed on a piece of cardboard that contained rent amounts, including a rent increase in two years. When Rossi tried to exercise his 10-year renewal option in 1996, the two parties began disputing the validity of the option and the amount of the rent.
Ray Rossi said that he'll soon begin going through his stock and files at the drugstore and figure out how to physically leave. Once he does, he said, he's sure that mentally leaving his shop will be even tougher.
"I'll probably take a break, take a while to wind down," he said of future plans. "We'll be sadly missed. There's a lot of nostalgia in this place."
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Saratoga, California Since 1975
