The owner of a clothing store in the Democrat-run city of Portland, Oregon has made the difficult, yet necessary decision to shut down her store after it was the target of a string of robberies that irreparably wounded the store financially. The owner, Marcy Landolfo, posted a scathing note in the window of her shop that explained why she was closing the doors to her store, Rains PDX.
In the note, Landolfo thanked her loyal customers, and explained why the store had been permanently shut down, saying it was “due to the constant, and unrelenting, criminal behavior, coupled with escalating safety issues for our employees.”
“Our city is in peril,” the note said. “Small businesses (and large) cannot sustain doing business, in our city’s current state. We have no protection, or recourse, against the criminal behavior that goes unpunished. Do not be fooled into thinking that insurance companies cover losses. We have sustained 15 break-ins… we have not received any financial reimbursement since the 3rd.”
“Portland has always been known for its thriving and abundant local, independently owned, small business,” the letter continued. “If small businesses are forced out, then our city will have lost a lot of what makes it a unique and desirable place to live. Please do your part to support small businesses… Please be vigilant in voting to make our city safe again.”
“It’s just too much with the losses that are not covered by insurance, the damages, everything. It’s just not sustainable,” Landolfo told local news channel KATU2. “The products that are being targeted are the very expensive winter products and I just felt like the minute I get those in the store they’re going to get stolen.”
“The problem is, as small businesses, we cannot sustain those types of losses and stay in business,” said Landolfo. “I won’t even go into the numbers of how much has been out of pocket.”
The office of Democrat Mayor Ted Wheeler has announced that they are working on a financial assistance plan for business owners needing to repair their shops damaged by looters. A spokesperson for the mayor’s office reported that they have “worked to increase funding for Business Repair Grants through Prosper Portland, and recently held a Retail Safety Summit to strategize with local business leaders and loss prevention specialists on the retail theft crisis.”
The spokesperson added, “We are also working with interested property owners to streamline the permitting process to add enhanced lighting to storefronts, which can help deter nighttime break-ins.”
Landolfo, however, insists that more needs to be done to address the rising crime in the city.
“Paying for glass, that’s great, but that is so surface and does nothing for the root cause of the problem, so it’s never going to change,” Landolfo added.
