AUSTIN, Texas — Business owners at a North Austin shopping center say the future looks grim for their stores. A developer plans to knock down several businesses near the corner of U.S. 183 and Burnet Road, next door to Highland Lanes Bowling Alley, which is also preparing to close next year.
"We have some customers that have come to us for 40-plus years, and we treat our customers like friends, you know," said Jillian Keeper, the manager of Zookeeper, an exotic pet store.
A couple months ago, the pet store was told it would need to move out soon. Now, the owners have a new lease that they hope will keep them there for two years.
"People are moving here for the culture, and it's getting so compacted that they're knocking out places like us. And we are a potential candidate to be knocked out in the next couple of years as well," Keeper said.
Neighboring stores like Furniture Row are already selling off their stock and preparing to leave as a developer plans to come in and turn it into residential housing.
The change comes as a result of proposed zoning changes from commercial to residential, which a spokesperson from Councilmember Chito Vela's office said is still awaiting approval.
Keeper said it's sad to see their neighbors go.
"Not to sound negative, but it's so discouraging, people coming from out of state and places. They're not even from here. And they're making phone calls hours away, and they have no idea what businesses they're destroying," Keeper said. "Setting up somewhere else and taking appointments, there's thousands of animals. And we, you know, we expanded the store two times in the last 10 years and that cost so much money as a local small business."
Keeper said while the business's future may be up in the air at this location, for now, they're here to stay.
KVUE reached out to a spokesperson for the developer who is expected to move in. We have not heard back.
Boomtown is KVUE's series covering the explosive growth in Central Texas. For more Boomtown stories, head to KVUE.com/Boomtown.