Harlingen small businesses impacted by string of burglaries
A love for baking is what inspired Erika Shaw to open up her own business – Cafe 406 on East Harrison Avenue three months ago.
Everything was going smoothly until someone broke in on Tuesday night, leaving the front door smashed, and the back door left open.
“It definitely hurts because I have put a lot of hard hours and work into getting this place together,” Shaw said.
A mini fridge and a cashier box were stolen, Shaw said.
“For something like this to happen right now, it's unfortunate,” Shaw said.
According to Shaw, the revenue loss from having to close up shop for the day to make repairs, and the cost to repair the damage, is more than $3,000.
Shaw is not the only one who's picking up the pieces.
Just before Valentine's Day — and down the street from Café 406 — Little Castle Flower Shop was also broken into.
Surveillance video shows the burglar ripping out the cash register from the wall and rushing out through the back door.
Little Castle Flower Shop Owner Ariel Loera said he lost out of thousands of dollars to make repairs.
The new cashier system was $4,000, and they had to close on Valentine’s Day — one of their busiest times of the year.
“On sales the day before Valentines, we are talking about 7 to 12 thousand dollars,” Loera said.
Channel 5 news reached out to the Harlingen Police Department. They said they are looking into several persons of interest, but no arrests have been made so far.