PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — A local vegan grocery store considered a crown jewel among locals of East Portland's Gateway District is trying to bounce back after a vandal stole copper and caused thousands of dollars worth of damage to their refrigeration unit.
Food Fight! Vegan Grocery is located at 11155 NE Halsey St. and its food is so renowned, it draws people from all over.
"I bought this shirt like last week and I was really surprised in The Dalles somebody goes, 'Oh, 'Food Fight!' they're so nice!'" said Sheila Dooley, a customer who lives in Mosier. "And I was across the river and somebody said the same thing so this store is really well known."
Food Fight! Owner Beth Sullivan told KOIN 6 News this recent incident has incurred a lot more cost than the occasional broken window or lock in the past. She knew something was wrong when she noticed something unusual Friday morning.
"After I had been here for about 30 minutes, I realized that the temperature was above where it should be," Sullivan said. "And I went outside and looked at the unit, and it was just completely destroyed and basically gone."
The refrigeration unit had been completely stripped of its copper, aluminum and compressor.
"It's going to be $10,000 more for that," Sullivan said. "And then we're going to have to add fencing around it and a camera, lighting, that kind of thing, just to keep it from happening again."
Those additional security measures will add another $5,000 on top of replacing the refrigeration unit itself, Sullivan said.
"How could somebody do that to a small business like this?" Dooley said.
It's a hit the store can't take, Sullivan said.
"We make enough each month to pay our vendors and our employees, and that's about it. You know, there's, there's no real extra just sitting around waiting for something like this to happen," she said.
Thankfully, Sullivan said they have some good vendors nearby who have offered to store their non-dairy and meat-free goods in the interim.
"Luckily, we put the word out on social media. Friday morning, people came out in droves. We hadn't have that busy of a day ever since I took over the ownership," the owner said.
Sullivan said she's made an online police report and managed to put down a deposit on a new refrigeration unit. Next, she plans to reach out to insurance.
The fridge will hopefully be up and running by the end of the week. Sullivan said she's grateful for the community support.
"It's been impactful and it's really helped us a lot."
KOIN 6 News reached out to the Portland Police Bureau to see if they have any statistics on instances of copper theft in recent years. However, they said they weren't able to provide us with the numbers on that in time for this report.
Fundraising is underway for Food Fight!, including through a GoFundMe page.
