`snubbed' Penguins Motivated By Anger 
Some Players Have Learned To Channel The Disappointment Of Not Getting The
Call To The Nhl Into Stellar Play In The Ahl.

Albert Daniels

By MARQUES G. HARPER mharper@leader.net
 Thursday, November 16, 2000 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Page: 1B 





WILKES-BARRE - The news came a week ago. In a matter of hours, Kathi Weiss,
who ran Smoothies on the Square, was told to pack up and move out of the
retail space on Public Square that she turned into a shop last summer. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 She had until 5 p.m., and it was already mid-afternoon. She was told a
locksmith was coming to change the locks. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; ``I'm absolutely heartbroken, heartbroken,'' said Weiss on Wednesday
afternoon as she talked about the events leading up to the closing. ``I'm
selling my house and I'm out of the Valley. I don't want to see downtown. I
can't even go by there. It's heartbreaking. I'm not a cook. I never thought I
could do what I did. It ended up being a really cool place.'' &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Suddenly, the smoothie shop Weiss ran, the one that opened to much
excitement from the downtown workers, was tossed onto a growing list of
businesses that have set up shop in downtown and quickly folded. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 How the shop ended isn't so smooth. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Weiss's story - one about an employee trying to work out a deal to own the
business - doesn't match her landlord's - a man who says his tenant didn't pay
her bills. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Several months ago, Weiss said, she had agreed to run the shop until a new
venture worked out for several local businessmen. The proposed venture would
bring a dental office to the space above the smoothie shop at 1 S. Main St. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Prior to running the shop, Weiss was a dental hygienist at an office that
these businessmen - including architect Nicholas Pyros - owned, she said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 According to records filed at the Luzerne County Courthouse, Pyros owns the
South Main Street building where the smoothie shop was located. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Eventually, Weiss said, the deal would give her an opportunity to manage
the new dentist office and the smoothie shop. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 However, once she thought about the hours she was putting into the smoothie
shop, Weiss said she had a change of heart. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 She wanted to own Smoothies on the Square starting Nov. 1. Until that date,
she said, she was an employee of Pyros and the other men who owned the shop. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 She said she wasn't paid a salary for her work at the shop. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Neither Pyros nor Weiss agrees on who owned what. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Reached for comment at his house, Pyros wouldn't fully comment on the
matter. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 He said: ``They went out of business because they didn't do the business.
She didn't do the business. She didn't pay the rent. That's the whole story.'' &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 However, Weiss said she had approached the shop's owners a month ago with a
plan to buy them out. The deal, she said, would have given her control of the
shop and $500-a-month rent payments for two years. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Weiss said she sold some stock to pay for the buyout and started giving out
smoothie samples at Wilkes University to bring in new customers. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Last week, Weiss and her children packed their belongings, including crock
pots and decorations, and went home to Kingston. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Now, there's a sign on the door of the shop. It reads ``Closed.'' &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 ``I'm out a lot of money,'' Weiss said. ``I haven't had a salary in six
weeks. How I got the short end of things I don't know. It all hinged on me
speaking to Nick Pyros about the rent.'' &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Until Jeffrey Pyros, who is Pyros's son, told her to leave last week, Weiss
said, she thought the deal to buy out the partners was firm. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 ``I have stood by these guys. I have stood by through thick and thin. I
wish it had been my money. I wish I had never involved other people,'' Weiss
said. ``I don't know what happened - despite the fact that I had a firm verbal
agreement. It was beyond my control.'' &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Now Weiss, who moved here in 1977, said she isn't sure about the future. It
just won't include the Wyoming Valley or downtown Wilkes-Barre. And it likely
won't include smoothies. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 ``I don't think I'm going to open it again,'' Weiss said. ``I don't think I
could ever shop downtown. I'm really sad about it. I really just want to get
out of this town. I've never been so professionally embarrassed.'' &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Marques G. Harper, a Times Leader staff writer, may be reached at 831-7324. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 For The Record: 11/17/00 Jeffery Pyros was an owner of the Smoothies on the
Square in Wilkes-Barre that closed last week, as well as the owner of a
planned dentist office. The owner was described incorrectly i a story on
Thursday.

W-b Smoothie Shop Closes Amid Confusion Woman Who Ran Smoothies On The Square Says She Was Simply Tossed Out.