8.28.24 – FOX4KC – KANSAS CITY
From 39th Street to Waldo and Brookside, residents and businesses alike have been hit with thefts and break-ins in recent weeks.
It’s also impacted storefronts in the Crossroads and Midtown, where multiple small businesses were broken into on August 26.
These incidents are having a significant impact on small business owners.
“To pull up the car and see all the windows broken into and just to see the trail of broken glass everywhere, I mean, it was a heartbreaking feeling, to say the least,” said Chris Riggins, the owner of Brewer’s Kitchen in Midtown.
Brewer’s Kitchen was broken into on Monday. Burglars shattered windows and took the restaurant’s safe.
“I’m a small business owner. Every single dollar matters to me, and to just have that clean taken out of my restaurant with the week’s deposits in that safe, it’s heartbreaking,” Riggins explained.
“It’s something where we hope that we can recover, and you know, we’re blessed with the community of Kansas City who often does rally around local (businesses), and that’s all I can ask for is some support during this tough time.”
Butch Rigby is the owner of Screenland Real Estate. He says several other businesses in Midtown and the Crossroads, including Grinders Pizza and King G’s, were broken into the same night.
“I feel that small business in this town is under attack,” Rigby said.
“We have almost all small business tenants. I worry about the landlords and damage to the property, but more than that. I am mostly focused and concerned with how this affects small business owners.”
Rigby wants to see action taken to stop these crimes targeting small businesses and popular districts.
“I think it’s time for us to start patronizing every business we hear about that’s been broken into, but more importantly, start demanding of our elected officials that this is taken seriously,” Rigby explained.
”That there is an understanding that the attack on small businesses is really an attack on any success we can have as a community. They are our community.”
In the meantime, Brewer’s Kitchen will close the week of August 29-September 1 as Riggins and his team support their new sister location, Brewer’s Wrap House, participating in the Santacaligon Festival.
“As a small business owner, I still have to get ready for the festival, which is next week. I still have to buy the inventory. I still have to keep my chin up,” Riggins said.
Brewer’s Kitchen will be open to customers the week after the festival.
Riggins encourages others to support local businesses, especially locations impacted by recent break-ins and thefts..