Ivy Kennedy walked into her store, White Buffalo Calf Woman Arts and Collectables, on October 2, and found a very unfortunate surprise.
“We were walking into the store and we noticed this cupboard was open, and we thought what the, did we forgot to put all the product away?” Kennedy said.
After that, Kennedy and her business partner looked around the store and saw empty display cases. The cases previous housed merchandise like earrings, watches, moccasins and other First Nation’s art pieces. All of it was handcrafted.
Paintings had been stolen off the walls. Kennedy saw the back office was ransacked and cheques were missing. She said more than $20,000 worth of goods had been stolen.
“We were actually just saddened by the way that people have to live by robbing small businesses,” Kennedy said.
The store buys merchandise from local artists and then uses the revenue to fund The Women of the Dawn Counselling Centre. For 26 years they’ve been providing spiritual, practical and career guidance for those who need it.
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“How does someone rob someone that’s trying to help them?” Kennedy asked.
“All the Anglican churches in Regina help us, and a lot of the other churches help us. As soon as donations come in we give them to the people, like we’re a helping agency.”
Kennedy said people have been reaching out to see how they can help the store, and the help is needed. She said they just had to replace the furnace, a $3,700 expense, and they didn’t have $3,000 for business insurance this year. So none of the stolen merchandise is covered.
For now, Women of the Dawn are seeking partners for putting on their kids’ Christmas party because of the loss.
Security measures at the store have also been enhanced, as Kennedy fears the thieves may return.
This robbery hits home for artists like Cheyanna McAdam. She was at the store Thursday to sell beaded jewelry. It took her eight hours to make the three pieces, just some of the countless hours she puts into her craft.
“It’s heartbreaking because I’ve had crafts stolen from me,” McAdam said when asked about her reaction to the robbery.
“I cried, because we put our heart into it, our feelings into our bead work.”
The Regina Police Service is investigating. They confirm that there have been fraudulent attempts to cash the stolen cheques. However, they don’t know for sure if the same people are responsible for the robbery.
Anyone with information is asked to call either the Regina Police Service at 306-777-6500 or Crimestoppers at 1-800-222-8477.
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