Crime discourages Dallas business owners

by Cheryl Smith of of Dallas Weekly

It was supposed to be just a normal workday for Natalie Brown, co-owner of the Subway Store located at 3125 Grand Avenue in South Dallas. Or at least that is what she thought as she made her way to the store to pick up freshly baked bread to deliver to one of her other stores located at Cedar Valley Community College.

Ms. Brown was moving slower than usual at 6:15 that Monday morning, more than a week ago. “Something was wrong with my leg,” she recalled. “I was moving slow because my leg was hurting. I don’t know if it was a charley horse or something.”

Whatever it was, it could have possibly saved her life.

As she entered the store that morning, her aching leg prevented her from getting to the alarm system to disarm it before the alarm sounded.

“I triggered the alarm when I went into the store,” she explained. “I think I startled the burglar.”

What could have been a possibly dangerous situation was averted as the man ran out of the back door.

“He didn’t see me, but by the time I got to the back to disable the alarm he was running out of the door,” she said, adding that the back door of the store was “folded back like a sardine can.”

Admittedly, she was nervous at first.

“Then I felt isolated,” said Ms. Brown, who owns the stores with her husband, Travis. “Then I felt like here’s another day that I can’t service my customers—with the city ordinances and the health department and most of the product gone, it was very frustrating.”

Not that any time is a good time to be robbed, but with the current state of the economy, Ms. Brown says a robbery makes it even harder to stay in business.

“We’re doing a promotion now in hopes of boosting sales to combat the rising gas costs,” said Ms. Brown, who added that hopefully the $5 foot-long sandwich will increase sales. “More people are bringing lunch or buying something to pop in the microwave oven. We (Subway) have done this promotion in other cities, and it has been successful. We hope it works here, especially now when we had all our product stolen.”

Since August 2007, the store has been “hit” three times. Her store on Ledbetter has been “hit” 6-8 times since they opened.

“We told Subway that if we keep getting hit, at this rate we’re thinking about closing up and folding up,” she said, adding that the Grand Avenue store had been closed before.

Dallas Black Chamber of Commerce President Reginald Gates understands how Ms. Brown feels. The South Dallas-Fair Park Merchants Association tracks and funnels information to the police department as they seek additional patrolling of the area.

Mr. Gates said he would hate to lose the Subway or any business in the area. He admitted that crime is a major problem and that coverage (patrolling by law enforcement) is an issue.

“When we have major events, there’s extra coverage,” he said, adding, “but we are here all the time.”

The Chamber encourages businesses to come to South Dallas but crime, like the recent shooting of Suon H. Xieu during the robbery of her family-owned business, Forest Red’s liquor store on South Lamar Street, becomes a determent.

On the day that her husband died from a beating he sustained during a robbery almost a year ago—that left him comatose--Ms. Xieu was shot and paralyzed from the waist down.

With the increase in robberies, Mr. Gates is not surprised if some business owners are discouraged.

“We can not afford to lose businesses,” he said. “It’s a real push to get businesses to come to the area, and when we are successful in recruiting them, we have to make them feel safe because we all lose when businesses leave the area.”

Knowing that others are facing the same fate does not make things easier for Ms. Brown, who hires a number of high school and college students.

“The cost to do business is so expensive,” she said. “We are asking ourselves if it is really worth it. We’re trying to put a healthy meal into the mouths of the community, and then they bite the hand that feeds them.”

Sure the business is insured, she added, pointing out that in filing claims, insurance premiums could become so high that they can’t cover the costs.

“Nobody wants to pay $12 for a sandwich!”

The Browns opened their first store in 2001, and Ms. Brown says she loves being in business, but I don’t want to be in business and it not be profitable or possibly cost us our lives.”

They want to “leave a profitable legacy for our daughter,” but that won’t be easy to do if the robbers put them out of business.