‘It’s left us pretty shaken’ Popular city eateries among latest businesses hit by break-ins By: Gabrielle Piché Posted: 6:50 PM CST Wednesday, Nov. 8, 2023 Last Modified: 6:52 PM CST Wednesday, Nov. 8, 2023 Updates

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Two popular Winnipeg eateries are among the latest businesses to sport boarded-up doors and break-in costs.

Coffee Culture Café & Eatery, a Fort Richmond shop off Pembina Highway, experienced its first break-in Sunday. Bagelsmith’s downtown location had its fourth incident within three years Monday.

“It’s left us pretty shaken,” said Sandeep Mehendiratta (who goes by Bibban), co-owner of the Winnipeg Coffee Culture.

She recalled last Sunday getting a call from her security company around 6:15 a.m., hustling to the café with her husband Paramjeet and phoning police.

The thief entered by breaking the front door’s glass, Bibban said.

She and Paramjeet idled in their car in the parking lot, worrying someone was still inside the roughly 80-seat shop.

“If the guy could break the glass door, obviously my car is not that strong,” she said.

She waited several hours for police to arrive, she said, expecting officers to investigate, but they didn’t come. The Winnipeg Police Service did not respond to queries by print deadline.

“If the guy could break the glass door, obviously my car is not that strong”–Sandeep Mehendiratta

Eventually, the Mehendirattas entered the shop themselves. Sales machines and cash tills were taken, as was a high-end camera, Bibban said.

She estimates the break-in created upwards of $8,000 in damages, on top of sales lost due to staying closed Sunday.

The company has since reopened.

“I’m just trying to make sure, first, my staff feel more comfortable,” Bibban stated. “First thing was to give them the confidence that this doesn’t happen every day.”

Employees often arrive in the early morning hours to bake goods. Many are university students, Bibban said.

Meantime, she’s trying to regain her own confidence: “we’re not feeling very safe.”

A greater police presence would be helpful, she believes.

“This raises the basic question for small businesses — are they secure here? Is somebody concerned about them?” questioned Paramjeet, 66, the coffee shop’s co-owner. “Why do we do business here?”

The Indian immigrants launched their Coffee Culture amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

“This raises the basic question for small businesses — are they secure here? Is somebody concerned about them?”–Paramjeet Mehendiratta

“If the situation doesn’t improve, then there’s no reason — why should I continue with this business, and why should I compromise my and my staff’s safety?” Paramjeet added.

The couple is happy with their Fort Richmond location and the supportive community, Bibban noted.

They’ve commiserated with nearby business owners who’ve dealt with break-ins. A short walk away, a pizza company, a nail boutique, a grocery store and a hair salon all displayed boarded-up doors and windows.

“With nobody here, I lock the door,” Jennie Huang said, standing behind the counter of Singleton’s Hair Care.

She’s worked on site for 17 years. Things changed during the pandemic, she noted. Now one of Singleton’s windows is covered; someone threw a rock and broke it a couple weeks ago.

The same thing happened two years earlier, Huang stated.

About 12 km away, Bagelsmith is dealing with a broken door.

Someone smashed the glass, took an induction burner and a knife and left, according to owner Philip Klein.

“He was in and out in 45 seconds,” said Klein, who can view security camera footage on his phone.

Theft has become a relatively “normal thing” for the downtown business, Klein continued.

The Carlton Street location opened its doors during the first year of the pandemic. It’s seen theft of its sales systems (including an iPad), knives and, twice, plenty of food.

Klein estimates $1,000 worth of smoked meat and drinks was once taken.

“It’s a symptom of the issues downtown right now, and I don’t foresee that changing anytime soon, unfortunately,” he said. “I feel very, very sad for people in that position who have to resort to that.”

“It’s a symptom of the issues downtown right now, and I don’t foresee that changing anytime soon, unfortunately”–Phillip Klein

He’s baking the price of theft into his operating cost.

What worries Klein is the police response time: he described calling officers about the recent break-in around 7 p.m. Monday and hearing back early afternoon Tuesday.

The Free Press couldn’t verify with the Winnipeg Police Service.

“With the lack of urgency, it seems, that the police come to our aid — if something serious happened, somebody could be in trouble,” Klein said. “I get the police are busy, but… we feel like we’re a sitting duck more often than not.”

Winnipeg Police Service Insp. Shawn Pike told the Free Press last March that officers are “striving to get there as fast as we can.”

Situations where a thief has left, and no one is in danger, will not be as high a priority. Break-in calls compete with every call in Winnipeg at the time, Pike explained.

There’s “more of a push to have the prosecution” if someone has been repeatedly caught stealing or involved violence, he noted at the time. Others, like first-time offenders, might receive “diversion methods” like community service.

Winnipeg police have tracked 67,950 crime incidents over the 12 months ending July 2023, according to online data. It’s the highest number over the past five years.

Of those, 5,995 are break and enters. Police have clocked 5,090 incidents of theft under $5,000, not including motor vehicles, between July 2022 and July 2023.

“Some (members), they just don’t bother making the report anymore to the police,” said SeoRhin Yoo, the Canadian Federation of Independent Business’ policy analyst for the Prairies and the north.

The CFIB released a report last week detailing crime’s effect on western Canadian businesses. More than half of Manitoba businesses — 54 per cent — have felt the impact of crime, the report found.

Incident-based crimes climbed: last year, police reported 10,694 crimes per 100,000 people in Manitoba, up from 10,266 in 2019, the CFIB outlined.

Crime costs add to debt repayments, inflation and labour shortage woes, Yoo noted.

“With all these unforeseen costs added on top of (businesses), it could drive them to a breaking point,” she said.

Klein said he’s choosing to remain optimistic — “rolling bagels and rolling with the punches” — and maybe ordering stronger glass for his door.

Addressing social issues, like poverty and addictions, could help the situation, he underscored.

 

gabrielle.piche@winnipegfreepress.com