A Kelowna business owner is frustrated after repeatedly falling victim to theft, vandalism, and losing thousands of dollars in damage and goods.
Luar Body Piercing in Kelowna has been ruptured four times in the past two years, and even after moving business out of downtown, the same challenge still persists.
In her first year on Bernard Ave. Luar experienced body piercing her first break-in, which she relocated out of caution. During the renovation of their new location on Ethel St., they encountered a second hiatus that almost drove them out of business.
“They stole so much from us that we almost couldn’t continue, we almost had to stop and close permanently,” said Searirra Oldford, owner of Luar.
Since then, a gofundme has helped the piercing shop get back on its feet; but it came at a high price, as the latest surveillance was costing the owner a pretty penny to install.
“We’ve increased our security and spent more money. We have attached security foils to all windows, a security system with cameras, glass breakage sensors, motion detectors; it was quite a big ordeal, ”said Oldford.
But that still hasn’t stopped thieves from getting in, as Luar has seen two more break-ins, most recently last week, and Oldford finally hit a breaking point.
“For the fourth time, we have had to spend thousands of dollars to replace broken things and the damage done. It’s just going to be very daunting and very difficult for a small business to keep going, ”said Oldford.
Given the recurring crime trend, this business owner is more concerned about what is being done to prevent these incidents and is calling on the city to do something about it.
“I think the most important thing business owners want to see is some kind of action plan. How do we begin to address the fact that the theft, vandalism and burglary problems are so serious in Kelowna, ”said Oldford.
“There is no support for us, there is no okay, what are we going to do? How are we going to help that? How can we fix this? How do we support our local companies? It just doesn’t exist and that’s tragic. ”
Though discharge may be closer than expected, KelownaNow reached out to City Hall to let us know that a crime-fighting plan is currently in the works.
“The city continues to invest heavily in community security, including police resources, bylaw services, contractual security and support for the DKA Downtown-on-Call team,” said Marnie Douglas of the City of Kelowna.
“We are one of only a few communities in British Columbia that is developing a community safety plan; a five-year action plan to reduce the number of criminals and victims of victimization in our city. This will be completed by the end of 2021. ”
As for the Luar Body Piercing, they plan to increase their safety one more time and hope that something will change soon.
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