Thieves target store in Park Road Shopping Center

CHARLOTTE — A store in Charlotte’s Park Road Shopping Center was broken into on Wednesday. It’s the second break-in in that area in just two months.

Babe & Butcher posted on Facebook that the thieves made off with thousands of dollars in items from their store in the shopping center off of Woodlawn Road.

The store didn’t specify exactly what was stolen.

ALSO READ: Charcuterie shop Babe & Butcher to open at Park Road Shopping Center

The charcuterie concept’s 2,063-square-foot store opened last month in the former Southern Pressed Juicery space near Michaels, the Charlotte Business Journal reported.

“For a small business, this is devasting. For a business in January, this is even more devastating. We are heartbroken. Send us a little extra love as we try and pick up the pieces of this,” Babe & Butcher said.

The store told anyone who wants to help that they should support them or any other small business this January, saying the first six weeks of the year are the toughest for food and retail.

The community is rallying around them as some wonder what it’s going to take to stop the crooks.

“It’s terrible, it really is,” Dan Weiss said.

Weiss owns Skyler’s Toys and Sweets a few doors down.

“To be in a good area with good customers and good clientele, great neighbors, businesses whether it’s customer base or not -- it’s awful,” he said.

He is familiar with the heartbreak the owners of Babe & Butcher now face. On Dec. 19, surveillance video caught two men loading their arms up with toys inside Skyler’s Toys and Sweets. After about 25 seconds, they left with the toys.

“It’s a mental impact, you lose sleep over it,” Weiss said. “It might not be dollar and cents all the time but there are plenty of nights where you wake up and you think about it.”

Like many in Charlotte, the shopping center is not immune to crimes. According to the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department’s crime map, there have been five commercial burglaries in this area in the last three months, along with six larcenies that include shoplifting.

Weiss applauds the security team and police who patrol the strip mall and said the criminals are smart about what they’re doing.

“They are definitely professionals who are doing it, they know the opportunity of when to take it and they do it,” he said.

The owner of Babe & Butcher said she is overwhelmed by the amount of support she’s received from the community after this.

It’s the same type of outreach that Weiss saw after his place was targeted by thieves. He said after our story aired, many Channel 9 viewers stepped up, overwhelming him with support.

It’s not clear if police have arrested any suspects in the case.

(WATCH BELOW: Thieves rob local toy store in Park Road Shopping Center)