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Tacoma business owner questioning if inclusive shop will thrive after violent attacks
A new second hand clothing store, Black Sheep Resale, opened Jan. 17 and with it a new mission of inclusivity was born.
TACOMA, Wash. - A new second hand clothing store, Black Sheep Resale, opened Jan. 17 and with it a new mission of inclusivity was born.
It was formally Runway Fashion Exchange off the 4000 block of South Steele in Tacoma,
Faeryn Stevens, 43, took over the business with her co-owner Kelly, together they collaboratively decided to make it a safe space for any member of the LBGTQ+ community.
"It's really just about the people they can come here and be who they want to be," Stevens said.
The store has a little bit of everything to pique anyone's interest.
From the moment you drive up to the local shop you can see the rebranding is clear, as pride flags adorn the windows and walls.
A message Stevens is unclear about how it's being perceived in her community.
She says since they've opened they've death with three violent attacks: a shooting, car prowl and a break-in.
"My friends and I, who all were here, were shot at in a car. It was 12 shots, one of them hit the car, we were really scared," Stevens said.
The incident, which they didn't report, she says happened Feb. 7.
Two days later, her co-owner's car has its windows smashed.
"Nothing was stolen, the car wasn't stolen," Stevens said.
While they found it odd, they pulled up to the front door of their business unlocked and it ransacked.
"They punched through the roof to knock out the camera and what they thought was the security camera," Stevens said.
The remnants of the break-in still visible nearly a week later after Stevens says the burglars were able to make into her store through the ceiling. She says they broke into the empty business next door, climbed up the crawlspace and began what she says was a carefully planned out crime.
"They pulled out all the wired out of this [breaker circuit] because I think they thought this was the alarm system but it wasn’t," Stevens said.
The thieves left behind a sledgehammer but made off with more than $5,000 worth including their safe, cash, a computer, a camera, shoes, jewelry and purses.
"Honestly I think the worst of is the loss of security and feeling safe," Stevens said.
She says she doesn't believe they were targeted for being an openly queer owned business but is unsure.
"If this was partially motivated by bigotry they didn’t have time or once again if we were to give them credit because they’re clearly fairly intelligent at least in all their plannings that stealing from a store is one thing but if you get hate crimes involved it’s a completely different charge a much more serious charge, it feels coincidental," Stevens said.
She says as a small business owner – this is a big hit, three incidents within a span of three days says made for a rough week.
She closed her business for a week.
Stevens says she's also had customers come in and bad mouth her staff and the LBGTQ community.
"It makes us question, is this viable because even if they're not all connected, there's obviously a lot of other stuff going on and it makes it questionable whether or not like something like this can thrive if there are that many people against it," Stevens said.
Stevens says they reported the crime to Tacoma Police but officers never showed up but did take her report over the phone.
"I'm abandoned," Stevens said. "As far as anybody who has official capacity just ignored, and I don't know if it's because we're an openly queer business if that has something to do with it or If it's just there's too much crime going on," Stevens said.
Fox 13 reached out to Tacoma Police Department who said at the time of th report there was nothing indicating the burglary was anything other than for financial gain.
The department said their LBGTQ liaisons would be reaching out to Black Sheep Resale; they assure all hate crimes are investigated.
Stevens said her goals remain the same, helping her community. The store will reopen Friday at 11 a.m.
"We still believe in making this a place wonderful where people can come gather and be welcome," Stevens said.