Crime-weary North End butcher-shop owner dealing with irreplaceable loss

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This article was published 26/02/2025 (192 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The owner of a North End meat shop that has been repeatedly targeted by thieves is devastated after yet another break-in Monday night.

But this one hurt more than all of the others. Christian Klopick’s loss can’t be expressed in dollars and cents.

An old — empty — cash register that sat behind Tenderloin Meat and Sausage’s all-too-frequently smashed window, was a tribute to his late father Walter, the original owner.

“It’s history for me,” Klopick said Wednesday. “I mean, does it mean something to somebody else? Absolutely not. But to me, it helps me remember.”

Klopick’s family has owned Tenderloin since 1985. But before that, Walter and the cash register could be found at Taurus Meats, the McPhillips Street shop he opened in 1972.

Klopick has taken to social media over the past couple of days, asking the people in the community to keep an eye out for the stolen register. His posts have been shared more than 1,000 times, which he described as both an uplifting show of support from North End Winnipeggers and a sign of widespread anger over rampant crime in the area.

“You’re seeing the frustration, in my customers, and people that are getting frustrated that we’re having these issues — not we, as in Tenderloin, but just in general, in the city,” he said.

He said the store at Main Street and Landsdowne Avenue has been broken into several times during the last five months. His insurance deductible of $2,000 doesn’t fully cover the cost of replacing the broken windows, which cost more than $2,300 each.

He hasn’t bothered to call his insurance provider after every incident, fearing the impact all the claims will have on his coverage.

Klopick said he’s spoken with Justice Minister Matt Wiebe and Families Minister Nahanni Fontaine the area MLA (St. Johns) about the situation.

“This is the worst we’ve ever had. In the years prior, at the old store, I think I could probably count on one hand how many times we were broken into,” he said.

In the meantime, Klopick is holding out hope the cash register will be found.

“(Even) if I don’t get this thing back, I just know that there are a lot of good people out there, and that they’re willing to help,” he said.

malak.abas@freepress.mb.ca