Two stores moving out of T-Rex Plaza: Development owner issued 60-day notices

• Plaza

The owners of Big E Auction Service and P & J Antiques expect to shut their stores at T-Rex Plaza on Highway 22 in Dickinson by mid-August. Both stores received 60-day notices to vacate the development, but they said they did not receive explanations for why they are being asked to leave.

Talk about it

T-Rex Plaza will be down two businesses this fall after Big E Auction Service and P & J Antiques move out of the facility after receiving 60-day notices to vacate the development.

“I’m upset but there’s nothing I can do about it,” said P & J Antiques owner Paul Gawryluk, who also works for the city sanitation department. “I tried to contact the owner of the plaza on Monday, hoping he would return my calls, but I haven’t heard from him yet. I’ve talked to lawyers, but they said he can do what he wants because he owns the place.”

Gawryluk, with the help of his son, Josh, has run the antiques shop in the plaza for three years and was never required to sign a lease.

He said he expects to close his doors to the public in mid-August, giving him two to three weeks to deal with the inventory.

“Since we found out about the remodel of the T-Rex on Monday, it seems the businesses in here that have no leases are the ones that have to leave,” he said. “I’ve been in here three years and I have a lot of money invested in this business, both in advertising and in inventory, and now I have to shut it all down.”

Bill Patel, owner of T-Rex Plaza and Quality Inn & Suites in Dickinson, did not return a message left for him Tuesday at the hotel to find out what his plans are for the shopping development.

After four years at T-Rex Plaza, Ed Binstock, owner of Big E Auction Service, said he plans to move his auction business to the National Guard Armory but he won’t be able to do consignment any more.

“Big E Auction Service will keep on, but we’ll have to be out of T-Rex Plaza on Aug. 15,” Binstock said. “I’ve tried to talk to (Bill Patel), but he said he couldn’t talk and never gave me a reason why I was being told to vacate. There are a lot of rumors out there about what’s going on with T-Rex Plaza, but it’s all rumors until he talks.”

Gawryluk, however, said he will not be able to continue his business in Dickinson.

“I started this business because I like antiques and my son has been into antiques for a long time too,” he said. “I had finally collected enough antiques to start the business and now it’s going to close.”

But Gawryluk hasn’t ruled out moving his business to Fargo or out of state to South Dakota.

He added that his son may be forced to do the same thing since he will lose his job when the store closes.

“I can’t afford the rent people are asking for anywhere else in town, and it seems to me that people don’t give small businesses a chance in Dickinson since the oil boom,” Gawryluk said. “When I started here three years ago, I was one of only three businesses in T-Rex Plaza. It’s almost like I helped start this place from scratch, so to throw me out seems rude to me.”

Tags: t-rex plaza, big e auction, p and j antiques, paul gawryluk, bill patel, ed binstock, news, business