The owner of a Vancouver luxury boutique is speaking out after apparent vandalism that targeted her business.
CityLux Boutique, a women’s clothing store specializing in dresses, has been sharing stories on its Instagram page, saying two women may have been involved in vandalism against the store.
You might remember CityLux being in the news a couple of years ago after someone stole a couch from them in broad daylight.
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We spoke to the owner of CityLux, Sunan Spriggs, about this and other incidents that have impacted her and the larger business community in Vancouver.
“It’s honestly so sad; I don’t know why women would do this to another woman’s business or any small business,” Spriggs said in an Instagram story.
The video shared on social media shows two women crouched by one of the glass windows.
CityLux Boutique on Howe via their IG: pic.twitter.com/9kAvQY25nJ
— AJ ♡ 🇧🇦🇲🇪 (@SarcasticallyAJ) December 6, 2022
“It looks very intentional. They’re not homeless or acting erratically as they would if they were on drugs. They also had a glass-breaking tool,” Spriggs told us.
@CityLuxBoutique/Instagram
The two women in the video never broke into the store, and it isn’t clear what their intention was.
CityLux isn’t a stranger to theft or petty crime.
“It happens quite often. Vandalism, theft, you name it.”
Spriggs says they deal with a few incidents per week and that it’s not unique to her business. However, she also said that police say “there’s very little they can do.”
The damage will cost Spriggs a lot of money and time.
“Each window takes three months to order and is approximately $3,500. I literally just replaced one last week.”
While it might not be a popular opinion, Spriggs blames high drug usage in the area.
“Wherever there is drug use, there is crime.”
Spriggs feels “extremely frustrated” about the situation.
“We’ve invested so much into our businesses, and it’s not easy to just change the location. It was never like this until they began moving low-income housing into the areas. Low-income housing comes with drug use, which brings the crime.”
Spriggs adds that she’s an advocate for helping the homeless and those at risk but doesn’t like how the city has been handling either issue.
Spriggs told Daily Hive that they had a shoplifting incident back in March, but when they shared the experience on social media, the alleged thieves returned the items within 24 hours out of fear that the videos of them stealing might get shared.
She hopes the repercussions of being seen on social media deter others who might engage in this behaviour.
The VPD told Daily Hive it’s working to identify the suspects.
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