Marcy Landolfo, owner of the Rains PDX store in Democrat-run Portland, Oregon, has decided to close down her shop after the fifteenth break-in.
Speaking with local news outlet KATU, Landolfo said that she had made the decision to shut her store down because “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 store owner also cited concerns over the safety of her employees — and noted that, as a small business, the cost of these break-ins has become too much to bear.
“The problem is, as small businesses, we cannot sustain those types of losses and stay in business,” Landolfo said. “I won’t even go into the numbers of how much has been out of pocket.”
Upon closing her store, Landolfo placed a notice on the shop’s door to inform customers. The notice stated that Rains PDX was permanently closed and told customers to use the shop’s website instead.
“Our city is in peril,” the notice read. “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.”
“Please do your part to support small businesses this holiday season and beyond. Please be vigilant in voting to make our city safe again,” the notice concluded.
The owner at Rains tells me after five break-ins in about three weeks, she made the sudden decision to permanently close. Staff here are putting pressure on the city to look after small businesses dealing with ongoing challenges with crime. pic.twitter.com/XyP2p6PR6W
— Megan Allison (@mallisonKATU) November 26, 2022
After the store suffered a break-in last month, KATU contacted Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler (D), and officials claimed that they were attempting to increase funding for business repair grants.
In response, Landolfo argued that repairs aren’t the problem, saying that the city needed to address the actual “root cause” of the issue — which is crime.
“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,” she said.
Portland is also at risk of losing another business — the city’s iconic ice cream shop, Salt & Straw — as the store’s founder, Kim Malek, has raised concerns about skyrocketing crime, drugs and street camping which are making operating a business more difficult.
Malek stated that their intention is to “be at the table working with the city and county to find a solution and not move. Portland is part of the soul of our company.”
According to Breitbart News, there is increasing evidence that the U.S. has grown more and more “criminogenic” since mid-2020 — and “this trend toward more crime has accelerated since the start of 2021.”
Meanwhile, Democrats are still trying to dismiss concerns about their role in this issue. In September, the White House attempted to downplay President Joe Biden’s responsibility for skyrocketing crime across the U.S., claiming that the issue is “complicated.”
😬 Doocy: Does Joe Biden think America's cities are safe as crime explodes?
Karine Jean-Pierre: "The crime is complicated and multifaceted…It's not a 'yes or no' question." pic.twitter.com/lcLzTDuaVW
— John Cooper (@thejcoop) September 26, 2022
