2023-11-13 06:20:00
PORTLAND Ore. (KPTV) – Justin Waddell, owner of Bloke – an open-air garden shop, opened his north Portland store Sunday morning to find thousands of dollars’ worth of items stolen.
“Walked in this morning to open up, and noticed a lot of debris and things open on the ground, and it didn’t feel right,” Waddell said. “Opened the tent to see literally 40-plus blow molds stolen and six big Christmas trees.”
Waddell believes a theft of such large trees and such a huge collection of vintage items would have taken some planning.
“It had to be someone that was clearly aware of what we offered, and literally like 15-foot Christmas trees,” he said. “So it’s disheartening.”
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Waddell said since he opened the shop in the summer of 2020, they’ve experience small thefts here and there. But these losses were worth up to $10,000, and at this time of year, that income is crucial.
“Rents are due and payroll’s on Monday,” Waddell said. “This is always a huge sale weekend, and we don’t have things to sell…this for me is how I launch my entire season, and all of that I’ve been collecting all year long, and all of that is gone.”
Waddell hasn’t filed a police report yet, but hopes to make back at least a little bit of the money through insurance.
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He said it’s a challenge to process what happened, but hopes the community will play a big role in getting his business back on track in time for the holidays.
“This is a time when you invest in your community you get that support back, and we have a lot of people showing up and I am so grateful for that,” Waddell said. “That’s how we’re going to get through this, is the community we’ve built here.”
He said their business over the next couple of weeks will define the rest of the season, and he encourages members of the public who want to help to book tree shopping appointments on his website here.
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