Storeowner Nell Gartner said her landlord had given her notice to leave the building by the end of the year. She's been in the 182 S. Murphy Ave. location since September 2003 when she moved there from down the street. The store has actually been open for a quarter-century, having opened in Cincinnati, Ohio, more than 25 years ago before Gartner moved out here.

"I came here because I could see that Silicon Valley didn't have a lot of stores like mine, but the ending of this story is that now I know why," she said.

Landlord Brenda Klocko--a former Sunnyvale merchant who now lives in Pennsylvania--said she asked Gartner to leave because she had tenants who offered to pay more rent for the space, and because there had been tension between Gartner and her neighbors in the building.

"I have other people who are interested in renting that space who can afford more in rent than what [Gartner] will pay," Klocko said.

Gartner said she pays $1,400 a month rent.

Klocko said the upstairs tenant--Hidden Closet Boutique, a consignment store similar to Gartner's--is interested in the space. The owner of Hidden Closet could not be reached by press time for comment.

"The upstairs tenant said years ago that if the downstairs space ever became available, they were interested in it," Klocko said.

But Gartner said she had never given any notice of intent to make the space available. It only became available once other interested parties--willing to pay more--came forward.

"I have a right--as the owner of the building--to give her the notice to move out," Klocko said. "I don't have to give reasons."

Another problem for Gartner is that many of her transactions with her landlord were verbal rather than written.

In addition, both Gartner and Klocko said the professional relationship between Gartner and her neighbors had been tense lately.

Klocko said she wanted a tenant in the space that would work better with the surrounding tenants.

But Gartner said that her personality was something that should have been taken into consideration before she moved in, and that bringing it up now is only justification to remove her from the building.

"I was down the street for years and was asked to come to this space, so if she thought that there was any problem with my personality, she had the time to discover that," Gartner said. "I tried to be a good neighbor, but when someone wants what you have, you get pushed out."

Unless something changes in the next week, Gartner's store will close along with 2005. She said she is still looking for new locations.

"This shop provides a service to the community that is going to be gone," Gartner said. "This is all going to leave, and for a piss-poor reason."