“This thing real hard, hard because is Christmas”, beautician Odeth Greaves said yesterday as she stood near a smashed cupboard at the North American Beauty salon on Robb Street, which was hit by bandits for the second time in just over a month.
On the last occasion bandits cut a grill door to the back of the salon and gained entry, this time the break-in was more destructive – a section of a concrete wall was smashed in and the rubble destroyed two toilets resulting in the salon being flooded out. It is believed that the break-in occurred in the wee hours yesterday.
Empty cupboards and cleared-out shelves greeted Greaves as she opened the salon yesterday morning around 9 am, and her heart sank. She described the feeling as “extremely painful” given that just recently they were forced to restock the salon and start over. It took a week for the beauticians at the salon to get back on their feet following the last break-in in late October, but they managed to do so with limited resources. This time it might take longer, but Greaves is praying for a miracle since according to her, it is Christmas.
“This is rush hour for us, we see more customers now than we do any other time all year so we can’t afford to not be in business, somehow we will start over again”, she said with some anger in her voice and deep agony.
As she explained how hard it is for her to accept another break-in, Greaves pointed to the area where water was filling up in the salon. A gaping hole was visible in a concrete wall to the west of the building where the bandits gained entry- a fan was also destroyed. Greaves pointed to the two toilets in the salon that were smashed in by the concrete rubble, adding that the start-over would also involve repairs.
When Stabroek News visited the salon the police had not been called in as Greaves and another beautician were estimating their losses. She gave a figure close to $15,000 for her personal losses, but pointed out that three other employees were still to add to that figure.
The idea of the police being called in was initially rejected by Greaves since according to her, nothing has come of past investigations involving the salon; there were six previous break-ins. She said the police only show up and that is about it.
“I am not sure if they do any work after they leave because this keep happening to us and we survive them, but we never hear of anyone being caught or anything like that”, she said.
But after some advice Greaves decided to ring the police. As she dialled the number, she pondered what to say then it came to her. She would report yet another loss at the salon and if the police feel like showing up they could.
