Blenz on Georgia and Richards re-opens for the first time since Stanley Cup riot

VANCOUVER – It has been closed for more than two months, but a Vancouver business hit hard by vandals during the Stanley Cup riot will re-open today.

The Blenz coffee shop on the corner of West Georgia and Richards Street has been shut down since it was raided by looters on June 15th.

The company says property damage at this location exceeded $100,000. Major equipment was destroyed and half of the furniture from the coffee shop was stolen. The store owner was caught up in the looting and had to seek cover at the back of her store with two employees and a patron. Her car was also torched.

Blenz President George Moen says she was severely traumatized by the experience.

Get breaking National news

Get breaking Canada news delivered to your inbox as it happens so you won't miss a trending story.

Sign up for breaking National newsletter Get Started

By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy.

“It takes time to recover from something like that. She is ready to go back to work. She said that it would be her best therapy. She’s still affected by it. She’s asked us to deal with the media, because everybody wants to talk to her. And at some point she will be ready to do that, but not yet.”

Two other Blenz coffee locations in the downtown core were also damaged during the riot. They re-opened not long after.

“We had three stores that were damaged. This was certainly the epicenter of the riot,” says Moen. “By the time the crowd got up to this side, they were in full frenzy.”

Blenz is the first business to take legal action against rioters.

The grand re-opening will be taking place from noon to 6 p.m. today with a traditional Chinese lion dance to help bring good fortune and prosperity to the store in the future. Free coffee will also be served.

Meanwhile, another company hit during the riot is planning to take legal action against looters.

London Drugs plans to file a civil suit in the hopes of recovering hundreds of thousands of dollars. Looters made off with $420,000 worth of goods.

The company says it’s waiting to file the cases until some of the criminal matters have been sorted out. Officials say they don’t want to prejudice the criminal proceeding.

The store has been helping with the police investigation, submitting lots of the store’s high quality surveillance footage and images taken during the riot.