KENWOOD — After thieves struck a trio of Bronzeville businesses overnight, a local entrepreneur is calling on the community to lend support — and will be giving away food and drinks to neighbors who show up.
Vehicle Management Solutions CEO Early Walker joined Sip & Savor owner Trez Pugh III in front of his Kenwood cafe Friday morning asking the community to rally around Sip & Savor, 528 E. 43rd St., Ain’t She Sweet Cafe, 526 E. 43rd St. and Shawn Michelle’s Homemade Ice Cream, 46 E. 47th St. All three businesses were all burglarized overnight Friday.
On Sunday, Walker will buy ice cream for the first 100 customers at Shawn Michelle’s from 1-3 p.m.
There will be similar giveaways for the first 100 customers at Sip & Savor and Ain’t She Sweet Cafe, Walker said. You can follow Walker on Instagram for more information on those giveaways.
The first break-in happened at Shawn Michelle’s around 3 a.m. Friday, where four people entered the popular ice cream shop after breaking a glass door, taking a cash register and safes containing an unknown amount of money. The suspects then fled in an unknown direction, police said.
About an hour later, security camera footage caught four people getting out of a dark, four-door sedan with sledgehammers and breaking the doors of Sip and Savor and Ain’t She Sweet, police and Walker said. This time the thieves left empty-handed, returning to the car and heading westbound, police said.
No suspects are in custody, and detectives are investigating.
Pugh said he and the other owners have received information that may help them find those responsible, but couldn’t go into detail out of caution.
He received an alert from his security company about the break-in, arriving at the scene shortly after police arrived. He’s grateful that nothing was taken and no one was hurt, but is frustrated — his cafe was robbed twice in September as well.
“This kind of attention I really don’t care for, to be honest. We care about the community. We hire people from the community. I take care of disabled vets, recovering addicts, the homeless. We’re vested in our communities. I can’t understand why this keeps happening,” Pugh said.
Walker said business owners should be focusing on how they could have a “prosperous holiday” instead of fixing windows and doors. He hopes the giveaway will make things a bit easier, noting that Shawn Michelle’s owners Yahya and Nataki Muhammad were forced to close their location in south suburban Olympia Fields due to rising costs.
“I can only imagine, from a business owner’s perspective, how he’s feeling and what [Muhammad] is going through, so kudos to him for being strong, standing up and fighting back,” Walker said.
In the meantime, Walker and Pugh are encouraging anyone with information to reach out, and for neighbors to continue keeping a watchful eye on the Black-owned businesses making an effort to stay in the community.
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