Although downtown Greensboro was devastated by vandalism and looting on the nights of Saturday, May 30 and Sunday, May 31, Mayor Nancy Vaughan noted several times at the Tuesday, June 3 City Council meeting that the damage was not limited to downtown businesses.
Schiffman’s Jewelers was one of those businesses. The Schiffman’s at 225 S. Elm St. – which has been on South Elm Street since 1893 and at its current location since the 1930s – was not damaged on Saturday or Sunday nights. It is now completely boarded up, but that is a preventative measure.
However, the Schiffman’s location in Friendly Center was burglarized at 2:13 a.m. Sunday.
Schiffman’s Jewelers Vice President Lane Schiffman said, “We were targeted.” He noted that other than some damage at Macy’s, none of the other stores in the Friendly Center were damaged.
Most jewelry stores have a policy of not talking about what was stolen and Schiffman wouldn’t say anything about that topic except to say, “All of our clients’ merchandise was locked up in a safe. We have all of that.”
He did say that the store suffered widespread damage and on Wednesday, June 3, the custom showcases were being replaced temporarily with rented cases until they could be repaired, which according to Schiffman would take at least five or six weeks.
Schiffman said, “We plan to be open for business tomorrow.”
Ron Glenn, Greensboro Police Department public information officer, in an email about the burglaries at Schiffman’s and Macy’s stated, “Both incidents are probably connected to the looting that was going on during that time. They believe there were multiple people that entered both locations.”
Glenn stated that at Schiffman’s, “The suspects broke a glass door and entered the business.”
According to Crime Stoppers, during that same timeframe, the ABC store at 2417-C Lawndale Dr. and Target at 2701 Lawndale Dr. “were looted by multiple suspects.”
The Mattress Firm at 2643 Lawndale Dr. was set on fire during the same timeframe and was totally destroyed.
And of course this was all perpetrated by OUT OF TOWN protesters who probably stopped to ask for directions.
In 2017, a black Minneapolis policeman shot and killed a white woman. I can find no evidence of protests, looting, burning, and rioting after that incident.
It must be terrible to be experiencing such emotional pain that only some new jewelry or a 72″ television set can soothe your emotional distress.
I am not surprised. These riots are organized, and used for criminal purposes. I am old enough to remember what many of us knew as “old man Shiffman”. He would ride his one-speed coaster-brake bike to and from work. It was hard to understand how he stayed on the bike, as he rode is soooooooo-slow. I walked faster than that. That exercise kept him alive for a long time. It does the same for me. Stores like his are targets for burglars, so I’m sure he was prepared. There is NO reason to locate a retail store downtown anymore. I used to go downtown to visit restaurants. No mas.