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More local artists say the owner of a Cherry Creek mall Christmas store owes them money

Tim Newberg runs A Dickens Store
Posted at 9:58 PM, Dec 20, 2016
and last updated 2016-12-21 01:47:02-05

DENVER -- Three more local artists with the exact same story.

"How much money are you owed by Tim Newberg?" asked Denver7.

"About $1,400," said Jennifer Tate Foote, owner and artists at Fleur de Bead.

"Currently owed $1,621," said artist Melissa Tomerlin, who makes jewelry for her company The Gold Bug.

"Approximately $2,200," said Kerry Carter, owner of Bee Happy.

Together the local artists said they're owed more than $5,000.

"I'd call it a big scam," said Tate Foote.

All of the women said they set up their products in A Dickens Store in 2014 when owner Tim Newberg had two locations -- one in Cherry Creek, and the other in Aspen Grove.

A Dickens Store is a seasonal shop that sells products from local artists. This year, Newberg is set up back inside the Cherry Creek mall.

"I feel very betrayed by him and the fact that he can go on and keep doing this," said Tate Foote.

She makes original artisan jewelry and sold a lot of it in 2014, but said she never saw any of the money.  

"They're able to say, 'An artist made this piece, look at this,' and the money they gave him went in his pocket," said Tate Foote.

"He had enough money to pay those bills. What he didn't have is enough to pay for whatever lifestyle he had at that time," said Tomerlin.

She said Newberg paid her some of the money she was owed, but is still missing

Kerry Carter makes natural bee-based lotions and lip balms, and said she was also ripped off by Newberg.

"I didn't know there were people who could just lie and cheat," she said.

Each artist agreed to pay a booth fee and give Newberg 30 percent of all sales, but said they walked away with fewer products and not all of their money.

Denver7 heard the same story from other artists who had their products in A Dickens Store in 2015, when it was set up at Southwest Plaza.

"It's hard for a small business to lose $1,000," said Angie Castro owner, an artist at UpamperU.

Denver7 stopped by the Cherry Creek mall location to try and track down Newberg after several emails back and forth where he claimed they had a bad season. We reached him by phone.

"What do you want to say to these people? These are small business owners and the money that you're talking about is a lot of money for them," asked Kovaleski.

"We'll be able to get them all paid up by the end of this month. That's our goal," said Newberg.

"So you're guaranteeing that everyone's going to be paid from 2014 all the way through to this year," asked Kovaleski.

"Yeah absolutely," he said.

"OK, I'm going to hold you to that," said Kovaleski.

Foote still had this warning for other artists.

"Just stay far away from him," she said. 

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