Early Thursday morning, the owners and employees of DeFroude: Gluten Free Bakery in Andersonville were dismayed to learn that someone had broken the glass door of the small business and robbed it.
Signs outside and on social media advised customers that no one was injured, but that the business would need to be closed for the day for cleaning.
Chicago police said the incident occurred around 3 a.m. and no one was in custody.
“Small businesses are not just the backbone of our community, they are who we are,” said Charlie Wine, director of marketing for the Andersonville Chamber of Commerce. But for small businesses, this can be the difference between making money for the week or not. ”
He said small businesses don't always have the same opportunities or budgets for loss and theft as big box stores.
“A lot of these big companies have losses built into their budgets,” Wayne said, adding that to discourage crimes of opportunity, businesses have closed plans and go cashless or empty their cash registers every night. I am proposing that.
BrewBrew Coffee and Tea in Avondale recently recovered from a similar crime.
Last week, a man threw a brick at the door, jumped over the counter and took away the cash register. Owner Christian Medrano said there was $150 in the cash register. But after spending time fixing doors and cleaning, his small business's profit and loss is closer to $900.
This is the second time in the past three months that they have been robbed. Now they are making a change.
“I don't have any cash on me,” said owner Christian Medrano. “I don't plan on using cash at all, but you can use credit cards, and you can also use Apple Pay.”
He said the community has kindly supported their business and new payment model since the break-in.
“We've had some old customers we haven't seen since the pandemic, some who've moved out of the neighborhood, coming back just to say hello and stuff. It's been great,” he said.
Medrano plans to meet with state Rep. Will Guzzardi next week to discuss ways to better protect the city's small businesses.
Police said no one is yet in custody for either crime.
