Downtown business damaged after riot
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PORTLAND, Oregon (KPTV) — More plywood boards are being put up in windows around downtown Portland after another riot turned destructive.
Around 100 rioters gathered at Director Park downtown Friday night, smashing windows at businesses and setting a fire that spread to the Apple store.
“I got a text from an employee saying sorry to hear about your damage,” John Helmer III, Owner of John Helmer Haberdasher, said. “And I’m going ‘what damage?’ When I left last night, everything was fine.”
Helmer’s business had one window smashed in during Friday night’s riot. Luckily, he says the window was double-paned and decided not to board up after learning it could cost him $5,000 per window.
“It’s a double-paned window. We decided against boarding up, but we are going to cover our windows up and turn the lights out to make it a little less attractive,” he said. “If we lost another window, we’ll probably have to board up, but I’m trying to avoid it.”
After a tough year due to the pandemic, Helmer says business was finally picking back up. He says he’s now just hoping protests won’t impact business.
“I think we were down like 70%,” he said. “The last month, things have almost felt normal again, which has been really promising. So we’ve had some momentum. So, I hope this doesn’t shatter any momentum we’ve had, no pun intended.”
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