A Yaletown business owner is speaking out after his shop suffered two break-ins in two nights, a problem many Vancouver business owners have gotten accustomed to.
Sean is the owner of West of Woodward, a women’s clothing boutique in Yaletown located on Hamilton Street.
He shared photos and videos of the property damage with Daily Hive and some information about the break-ins and how they’ve affected his Yaletown business.
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The break-ins impacted the front window displays. An employee of West of Woodward told Daily Hive that on the first night, thieves broke the right front side window before taking off with a jacket worn by one of the mannequins in the display.
On the second night, the employee said that thieves broke the left side of the window display and stole two pairs of pants from a rack.
As you can see in this video, one window was already boarded up before the second attack.
Things aren’t getting much easier for business owners dealing with property crime in #Vancouver.
This video is from a #Yaletown business owner.
Two break-ins in two nights. pic.twitter.com/rouaf7plMJ
— Amir Ali ⌨️☕️ (@AmirsDoingItAll) January 3, 2023
Sean says that $2,000 in merchandise was stolen, and repairs “should likely come out to a couple more thousand.”
“This is on top of the investment of almost $5k in steel scissor gates on all windows and the doorway to ensure no one can enter after breaking windows.”
Sean told Daily Hive that he has been corresponding with the Vancouver Police.
“The windows are boarded up until the glass can be repaired, but VPD has really only advised to keep merchandise out of reach from the windows.”
This photo shows one window boarded up before the next night’s damage.
Submitted
Sean added that police have been active in trying to help find the individual responsible for the alleged crimes.
Submitted
“They have already proven on surrounding street footage that it is the same person.”
Sean added that the incident has created emotional distress for himself and his one staffer.
“We’d love to feel safe each night that our store won’t be broken into or have merchandise stolen to worsen the financial hard times at the moment.”
West of Woodward shared the news on Instagram, thanking the community for encouragement following the two incidents.
View this post on Instagram
Many responded to the post. The Yaletown BIA responded with the comment, “this is just sad.”
Another user said, “the city needs to protect small biz. Enough!”
The same sentiments about the city needing to step up were shared by a business owner we talked to in March 2022.
VPD told Daily Hive that they’re currently investigating the two incidents.
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