SPOKANE, Wash. – Small business owners already have so much on their plates to try and make ends meet, and a window of theirs seemingly shot out at random makes that trickier.
“For a few minutes I was like ‘I’m done, I’m throwing in the towel,'” said Little Garden Cafe owner Faith Alderete.
Alderete says they found the shot out window early Sunday morning when the shift manager came in to open up the storefront near Waikiki Dr. and Whitworth Dr. in North Spokane.
“We can’t comprehend why someone would want to do that, it makes zero sense to us,” she said Monday. “Why destroy just to destroy, what did you gain from it?”
Thankfully it stopped there–no one broke into the cafe–but this isn’t the first time this has happened to them.
“I felt sad that this was the third time in just six months,” Alderete said. “I knew immediately that we couldn’t file an insurance claim, because three claims in six months? I can’t blame [the insurance company].”
Alderete says something like this has all kinds of ripple effects.
“We don’t want to, but eventually we do have to raise prices or cut employee hours,” Alderete said. “Some people might think it’s just a window and we can just replace it, but unfortunately that’s not the bottom line, that’s not the end of it.”
Chaps Bakery and Restaurant owner Celeste Shaw knows that all too well.
“When someone really has an insult like this and they have the devastation, I don’t think there’s anything that’s more important than having someone step up and support you through it,” Shaw said.
The community has rallied around Chaps , but Chaps and Shaw’s storefront Vinegar have also had windows shot out.
“I think one of the scariest parts of it is that it’s not just simple graffiti or theft, but that people are showing up with weapons, and that creates an enormous domino effect not just for damage, but also for safety,” Shaw said.
So, Shaw took to Instagram to try and help Little Garden Cafe pick up the pieces, offering to sell her pastries in the cafe and donate 100% of the profits to them.
“Sometimes you have to step out of what’s in front of you as an individual business, and say ‘what’s important to the greater good?'” Shaw said. “The greater good of standing with the community and having a voice.”
“Celeste is a pillar, it’s so awesome that Spokane has people like her that us–as other small business owners–can have somebody that we can follow their direction and follow their example,” Alderete said. “She just has a heart of gold and wants to help everybody.”
Alderete says her main goal now is making sure other businesses stay on high alert, while continuing to serve their customers.
“Let’s remember to check our ring cameras, if you see something strange call it in,” she said. “You realize there’s a bigger purpose, and it’s just a broken window. Whether we ask for forgiveness or not [whoever did this is] forgiven, and we’ve got to move on. A broken window is not our end.”
For more information on Little Garden Cafe, visit their website by clicking here.
For more information on Chaps Bakery and Restaurant, visit their website by clicking here.
