'We Have No Protection': Small Business Posts Heartbreaking Letter on Door About Shuttering the Store After 15 Break-Ins Rains in downtown Portland is the latest store to close its doors in the Northwest city.
By Emily Rella
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
As the holiday season heads into full swing, many stores are putting out bigger ticket seasonal items.
For Rains, an independently owned clothing boutique for men and women in downtown Portland, Oregon, the fear of another break-in happening where those items may be stolen is too much of a risk — so much so that the store has chosen to shutter its doors for good.
After a shocking 15 break-ins in just a year and a half, owner Marcy Landolfo posted a notice to the front door telling customers that Rains would no longer remain open.
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
"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," the sign reads. "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."
The note went on to say that small businesses are a focal point of the fabric that makes up the downtown Portland community and that if crime continues at its current rate, the city could lose what makes it "unique" and quintessentially Portland, encouraging citizens to continue to support small businesses ahead of the influx of holiday shopping.
Landolfo told local outlet KATU2 that the decision came after losing an "out of pocket" amount of money on recent break-ins and that the losses and damages caused are just "not sustainable" for business.
"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," she told the outlet.
The Rains owner also claims that other "shenanigans" have been going on in the store, including people wandering in under the influence of drugs or having mental health episodes that have "scared" her employees as well as "senseless vandalism" to her storefront and windows.
The shuttering of Rains is sadly not the first to hit the city.
Starbucks made headlines this past summer when it decided to shutter two store locations on opposite sides of the street in Portland due to high crime levels. It closed another this month in the city for the same reason.
Last week, Kim Malek, CEO of beloved national ice cream chain Salt and Straw which was founded in Portland, said that she was considering moving the company's HQ out of the city's east side.
"I don't know what option I have," she said. "I can't stay there. I can't do it."
The most recent crime report for the city of Portland cites 6,413 burglaries and 10,220 assault offenses in October 2022.
