Jim Rice, owner of Fields Bar & Grill, and Loretta Guzman, owner of Bison Coffeehouse, join “Fox & Friends First” to discuss how rising crime is affecting their ability to operate.
Small businesses from coast to coast are closing their doors this year in response to rampant crime that threatens the safety of their employees and customers, often leaving them with huge bills to clean up burglaries and lost merchandise. The stories of business owners vary, but they all find a common theme: Other issues like crime and drug use in American cities need to be addressed or businesses will continue to suffer.
“Somebody went out and did something wrong. It was wrong. So they should … have mandatory prison terms for certain offenses like breaking and entering,” Ana Fernandez, a San Antonio business owner, told Fox Digital Said in a news interview.
Fernandez was forced to close her brick-and-mortar location at Chamoy City Limits, a restaurant known for its chili and other Tex-Mex classics, in November after facing eight criminal incidents in just eight months. She is still taking catering orders and operating a food truck.
The business owner recalled that the “worst” crime she encountered was when the air conditioner on the roof of Chamoy City Limits suddenly stopped working. She called the mechanic and was ready to take what she considered to be a routine, albeit expensive, repair.
America’s small businesses hit hard by rising crime: ‘People are scared’
Location of Chamoy City Limits in San Antonio. (Google Map)
Instead, the repairman said the air conditioner wasn’t on the roof at all. Someone stole the unit to sell it for scrap metal, Fernandez told Fox News Digital. Chamoy City Limits didn’t get a new air conditioner until August, which meant employees had to work without air conditioners for almost the entire summer in Texas.
A dish served at Chamoy City Limits in San Antonio. (Chamoy city limits)
Fernandez is one of dozens of business owners across the country steadfast in exposing themselves, their clients and even their finances to a surge in crime in the United States.
Chamoy City Limits dessert. (Chamoy city limits)
america witnessed violent crime surge In 2020, murders rose nearly 30 percent from the previous year, according to the FBI. It was the largest single-year increase in homicides since the agency began tracking the crime.
Property crime, drug use and more continue to plague some communities amid the violent crime wave of 2020.
Portland stores shut and plastered fronts slamming rampant crime: ‘City at risk’
A clothing retailer in Portland, Ore., grabbed national attention this fall when it posted a prominent note on its front door announcing it would close its stores and accusing Portland of being “at risk.”
Rains PDX storefront in Portland, Oregon. (Google Map)
“In the current state of our city, small businesses (and large businesses) cannot stay in business. We have no protection or recourse against crimes that go unpunished. Don’t make the mistake of thinking that insurance companies will cover losses. We have suffered 15 burglaries …We have not received any financial compensation since the 3rd,” read a note posted at the Rains PDX store in Portland.
The owner said after 15 burglaries in the past year and a half, it was too much to lose.
Packed boxes in empty closed cafes. (iStock/iStock)
A popular live entertainment venue and winery in Washington, D.C., called City Winery, announced this month that it would close its location in the Ivy City neighborhood to prevent crime and would relocate elsewhere.
This summer, a New Orleans bar called the Portside Lounge closed because crime was “driving people away at a higher rate,” Eater New Orleans reported.
“We had three back-to-back shootings in February. After the second, I was like guys, you need to bring the police here. It’s unacceptable and it’s going to happen again.”
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In Seattle, the owner of renowned pastry shop Piroshky Piroshky announced in February that the company would close a branch in the city’s downtown due to “numerous safety concerns.”
Seattle’s Piroshky Piroshky sign. (courtesy of Piroshky Piroshky)
Olga Sagan, the owner of Piroshky Piroshky, told Fox News Digital in a phone interview this month of crimes near where the bakery is located, “We had three shootings in a row in February.” “After the second time, I was like guys, you need to bring the police here. It’s unacceptable and it’s going to happen again.”
After a third shooting near the store, “we closed because my employees didn’t feel safe. It was a real mess,” Sagan added.
The area is a drug market mecca, Sagan said, describing it as the “antithesis” of a festive and family-friendly Christmas market, but with a similar setup, citing rampant drug sales and abuse.
Asked whether the latest crime wave is the worst she has seen since leading the company more than 20 years ago, Sagan told Fox: “There’s absolutely no doubt about it.” “I’ve never seen anything this bad. .”
Olga Sagan at Piroshky Piroshky in Seattle. (courtesy of Piroshky Piroshky)
Months after the shooting and the closure of the location, Sagan announced she would reopen the doors of the downtown location to see if the crime problem eased and more customers took to the streets.
Businesses have been hit by a string of hits since 2020: a pandemic lockdown that curbed sales as people sheltered at home, then a multiyear crime wave.
“Theft is a problem. It’s higher than it has been historically.”
For Fernandez in San Antonio, she emphasized that once businesses start closing stores for coronavirus-related reasons, the remaining stores are vulnerable to criminal activity.
“When businesses around us started closing because of the pandemic,” her crime rate started to rise, she said.
Small businesses, corporations pack as Chicago crime soars: ‘Enough is enough’
Sagan reported similar findings in her talk.
“I feel like a lot of businesses have closed over the last few years because of COVID and other things,” Sagan said. “So there’s a lot of vacancies… [The vacant spaces] It ended up being filled with people doing drugs and doing a whole bunch of other activities because there was no foot traffic. “
The latest crime wave has hit even big box stores and national chains, with the National Retail Federation reporting earlier this year that crime against stores had ballooned to a $100 billion problem.
For example, Walmart CEO Doug McMillan told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” earlier this month, “Theft is a problem. It’s higher than ever.” He added that if the crime wave isn’t stopped soon, If prosecutors don’t charge shoplifters, “prices will be higher and/or stores will be closed.”
Former Chrysler Chairman and CEO Bob Nardelli talks about the nation’s big retailers facing record levels of theft and other crime.
Small business owners are calling on customers to continue to support them and to hold perpetrators accountable for their crimes.
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“People just need to keep supporting small businesses. The government needs to support small businesses,” Sagan said.