Should My Business Be Sacrificed to Fight Police Brutality?

George Floyd’s death was horrific and shocking, and sparked a national outcry of protest against racial inequality and abuse of authority. However, some of these protests have turned into riots, and some individuals have destroyed and looted both chain and local businesses alike. This begs the question: Is looting and destruction in the name of this outcry necessary collateral damage in order to have angry voices heard?

Before dismissing the shattered businesses in our communities as a necessary means for the voices screaming, “Can you hear me now,” take a hard look at the reality.

I own a store at the epicenter of where the looting and destruction began on Beverly Blvd. I. Martin Bicycles is my next-door neighbor, and manager Jaime and owner Jay are good friends. After almost three months of required COVID-19 closure, they had invested in some upgrades and were excited to open Monday morning. On Saturday night, the store windows were smashed and looters broke into the store and began methodically emptying out the expensive bikes. A neighbor in the alley called Jay to tell him they had an assembly line of pick-up trucks and cars to haul bikes out the back door. Jay raced over with another employee at night and managed to chase down and stop some of the looters, then stood guard at his store. The police could not respond as they were too busy dealing with the protestors on Fairfax and at other hotspots.

Sunday morning, I went over to the area with Martin and my kids to help clean up the mess. More than 30 bikes were stolen, as were store computers and registers, clothing and accessories. Easily more than $200,000 in damage and loss. I asked Jay when he thought he would reopen? With tears in his eyes, he had no words. He just shook his head and walked away, broom in hand.

The bridal shop next door to me was completely destroyed and emptied out. The owner from San Francisco is not sure if he will reopen. Because of the pandemic, who is getting married now, and how is he going to replace his inventory of wedding dresses in time for whatever there might be left of a wedding season? I didn’t ask, but I imagine he will not reopen.

The business closed and boarded up. It will be months before he will be able to reopen − if ever. Trashy Lingerie and BevMo also were destroyed and raided. Farifax was on fire, and all of the hip and cool stores up and down were ruined and looted.

West Elm is across the street from me and was destroyed and emptied out. The precision and logistical aptitude carried on by the looters would have impressed FedEx. What is left is a completely boarded, immense eyesore. Graffiti is all over the building: “Eat the rich”; “Kill All Cops.”

Further down the street, For Eyes was destroyed and ransacked as well. Mandarette Chinese had broken windows and vandalism over the building. On Sunday morning, the owner was trying to clean up as best he could. Eddie’s Pharmacy farther down on Beverly was destroyed and emptied. CVS at the Beverly Connection is completely boarded up and closed after having been ransacked and looted.

What really broke my heart was seeing Mel & Rose Liquor being methodically ruined and emptied out. My good friend has been there for years. The business closed and boarded up. It will be months before he will be able to reopen − if ever. Trashy Lingerie and BevMo also were destroyed and raided. Farifax was on fire, and all of the hip and cool stores up and down were ruined and looted.

What does this mean? How does a business owner deal with this reality? You have to understand that in general, the retail economy wasn’t the best in the last few years. Competing with Amazon and the online world is an enormous challenge for any small business. Paying the rent, employees, utilities and insurance oftentimes leaves most business owners wondering if they will make it next month. Add the COVID closure and you have three months of lost revenue. These are sales you can never get back. There is no way to make up for those months, the struggle of trying to stay afloat during the closure and finding ways to keep your employees.

All the government assistance for small businesses you might have heard about is a lot of hot air. Few of the businesses I know received any significant help, and the little they received is a loan, which is a drop in the bucket and will never help repay back rents and lost sales. You would think insurance would cover looting and vandalism. However, civil unrest is not covered in most business insurance policies. Neither is business interruption because of a pandemic.

Now we come to the week where most of us were hoping to open and instead, we are reduced to rubble. When will anyone reopen? How many of my neighbors will simply die and never reopen? Will I ever reopen? We don’t have the answers and the future does not look good. For me, it’s 20 years of blood, sweat and tears, working tirelessly to build our business and be a proud member of our community. All up in smoke.

Many businesses will never reopen. The rest will struggle for years to overcome the enormous loss. Many will die slow deaths. But maybe our sacrifice was necessary so the world can “hear” the calls for social justice.