It was a shocking sight for the team at Fuwa Fuwa All Day Breakfast when they arrived at work on Monday morning to find the glass on their front door had been smashed out.
The spot on Robson Street, known for its fluffy Japanese pancakes, was first hit by vandals in March when it appeared someone had attempted to smash in the front window. This was in the process of being fixed when it was damaged again Monday.
“We’re missing a few hundred dollars from the till, like not that much money, some cash out envelopes, our tablets for our DoorDash and all of our third party,” said Phill Dawid, the café’s manager.
“That’s going to disrupt us for a while for all of our take-out orders.”
Dawid says the vandalism is adding needless extra costs to a business that is trying to prepare for a busy summer ahead.
“We’ve been trying to optimize just to be ready to be busy, so right now it’s go, go, go, let’s get everything optimized and going, and then we’re like, OK, we’re finally ready,” he said.
“And then something like this happens, and it’s just a real letdown.”
The break and enter was a surprise to those in the area, with a neighbouring business, the Running Room, saying that while they’ve experienced some theft, they haven’t seen anything as extreme as smashed windows.
“I’ve been working with the company for two years, and it’s the first time we’ve seen that in the area or the building,” said Running Room manager Sebastian Calderon.
The Vancouver Police Department says no arrests have been made as they continue to investigate. As for Fuwa Fuwa, the café remains closed, and staff will be off for the foreseeable future while they assess the damages and make additional security investments to protect their business.
“The unfortunate reality of the situation is that we’re going to have to do a lot more on our part as well, with installing more cameras and maybe upgrading our alarm system,” Dawid said.
“I think it’s also talking with other business owners in the neighbourhood and building a little block watch that we’re looking out for each other as well.”