Female business owners in Chicago are staging a protest against the crime-ridden downtown by moving their businesses to the suburbs after a spree of lawlessness.
Teresa Ging, who owns a bakery in the city, said she feels like a ‘sitting duck’ in the area after she was forced to confront a man who tried to steal a purse.
Her store, Sugar Bliss on South Wabash Avenue in Chicago, was targeted by the lone male on at around 10.20am on Friday.
He vandalized her countertop before brazenly taking a bag as she was having a meeting – but she grabbed it back before calling police.
However, officers showed up 40 minutes later, so she fired off an angry email to Mayor Lori Lightfoot slamming the police force and demanding more to be done to protect local businesses.
She also addressed her concerned to Alderman Brendan Reilly but has yet to receive a response from them.
Speaking to CBS, Ging said: ‘We’re basically sitting ducks. He came in the front door of our store and then came around to the cash register.
Teresa Ging, who owns a bakery in the city, said she feels like a ‘sitting duck’ in the area after she was forced to confront a man who tried to steal a purse at 10:20am on Friday. She had been hosting a ‘Women in Business’ meeting at the time
Uzma Sharif, owner of Chocolat Uzma, said that Chicago is worse than ‘Gotham’ because at least the fictional city ‘has Batman’. She says that she is planning to move to the suburbs because the alternative is hiring a ’24/7 security guard’ for her store
‘It happened very quickly, but I feel like it’s sad to say I’m numb to this is happens once a month at least.
Uzma Sharif, owner of Chocolat Uzma, on South Halsted Street in Pilsen, is also considering moving areas after a burglary last year and a friend being carjacked a few blocks from her store.
She said: ‘We can’t live like this. The city has become – I would even say, Gotham City is a little bit better, because you have Batman.
‘Here you don’t have Batman. I’m going where they have the well-funded police departments and where they want our business. It’s going to be DuPage or Will County.
‘It’s happening everywhere – and that’s my concern. Unless I hire a 24/7 security guard to stand in front of my door, that’s my only option.’
Both women feel that city leaders are not concerned enough about small businesses safety and are now considering moving to areas without a police shortage.
Robberies are up by 20 percent in Chicago from 2021, with local businesses noticing the change in their previously quiet and safe block.
The women say that the numbers are even more important when you consider that the majority of business owners in the area are women.
Sugar Bliss on South Wabash Avenue in Chicago, was targeted by the lone male on at around 10.20am on Friday. He vandalized Ging’s countertop before brazenly taking a bag as she was having a meeting – but she grabbed it back before calling police
Police officers showed up 40 minutes later, so she fired off an angry email to Mayor Lori Lightfoot slamming the police force and demanding more to be done to protect local businesses
In August alone the Chicago Police Department issues three warning to businesses about potentially burglary incidents and distraction crimes – as well as armed robberies.
Police are urging businesses to ‘stay alert’ to commercial burglaries and armed robberies, and to ‘remain calm’ when confronted by brazen criminals.
A 7/11 and Dunkin Donuts were both targeted by a man armed with a black handgun, while police encouraged businesses to look out for a man claiming to be a City Hall carbon monoxide inspector.
It comes amid a concern over a rise in crime in Chicago generally, with three law enforcement officers being shot in just one week in June.
Overall crime in Chicago has surged since last year by 35 percent despite shooting incidents lowering by 16 percent.
There were 952 shootings reported in the same period this year, compared to 1,135 in 2021.
Reports of robberies, criminal sexual assault and theft related crimes have all gone up, while murders reported have decreased.