Vernon salons plagued by string of break-ins

This is the second time Enlighten Hair and Tanning Salon has been broken into in a couple of weeks.

“We couldn’t believe it, because we barely got the other door in that we had to replace (after the previous break-in) and then all of a sudden we had to do it all over again,” said Ed Kendall, who owns the salon along with Jody Niemi.

Enlighten Hair and Tanning Salon was one of three Vernon, B.C., salons — along with Emma’s Nails and the Hair Loft — that were broken into in the span of five hours starting the night of Dec. 15, 2024.

Enlighten Hair & Tanning Salon was broken into at 9:30 p.m., then Emma’s Nails at 4:25 a.m. on Dec. 16, and then the Hair Loft just after 4:30 a.m. The Hair Loft was the worst off, as owner Barbra Maxwell says all four stylists had their tools stolen, including blow-dryers, hot tools, scissors, clippers and trimmers.

1:43 Vernon B.C. businesses debating intensifying security after string of robberies

However, at Enlighten Hair and Tanning Salon, only $100 was stolen from the till on Dec. 15, something the owners call a fluke because they normally do not keep any cash on site.

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So the co-owners were surprised to be targeted again just weeks later, they believe by the same person. This time, he made off with just an empty cash register, leaving an estimated $3,000 worth of damage in his wake.

“We’ve got gates ordered now, we have bars coming on the windows,” Niemi said.

In a press release, Vernon RCMP say they’ve seen an increase in break and enters to businesses in the area. In the last two weeks of December 2024, they responded to more than a dozen.

“The amount of damage done by these suspects to break into the property is often far greater than anything they steal from inside,” Cpl. Tania Finn stated in a press release.

One of those businesses is Artistic Hair Design on 31st Avenue, which was broken into on Christmas morning.

“My door was smashed in, the bottom part. I knew I hadn’t left anything of value; I don’t usually keep cash in the salon,” owner Gail Soukeroff said.

“I did notice two days later, ‘Oh, my chequebook is not here,’ so my chequebook got stolen. I don’t know what they hope to do with that so I called my bank and got them to flag the cheques and changed my bank account number.”

On Monday, Happy Nails was the latest business to be broken into, leaving them to pick up the pieces after their front window was broken. The owner said nothing was stolen because no cash is kept on site.