A Washington business owner is on the brink of picking up shop and moving to the Lone Star State after a string of break-ins over the past year have threatened her business.
Antique Marketplace owner Carly Willis shared that she is "seriously considering" the move as crime plagues her small business.
"We have been seriously considering a move," Willis said on "Varney & Co" Wednesday. "My costs more are loss of revenue. It's loss of revenue from rents that I've lost. It is some merchandise on my part, but mostly my dealers are the ones suffering the loss of merchandise. So I've lost just a handful of things, honestly, and it's the damage that's really causing the biggest problem."
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Over roughly 12 months, Willis' store saw three separate break-ins, forcing her to apply plywood and other materials to deter thieves. She admitted the move has made her storefront less appealing and cost her customers and revenue.
"It definitely looks like we've been vandalized. I have a big couple of sheets of plywood over a 5-by-8-foot door window," she said.
For business owners in the state, especially outside of Seattle, Willis' experience is a common reality, she stressed.
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"Unfortunately, it is very common where we are. It's very common to see plywood over windows and doors. And I couldn't say it is not a deterrent because obviously it's a sign that a crime has happened there, and most people don't typically like to be around that. But I do have very loyal customers that we are very thankful for."
The prevalence of crime and lack of adequate public safety resources is contributing to the headache for business owners. Willis said what police presence they do have is often crippled by policies from Democrat leadership.
"Every police officer that I've come in contact with after one of these incidents has been extremely downtrodden. Their hands are quite tied because of the bad laws that have been passed in Washington state," she explained.
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Willis took her concerns along with other concerned business owners to a city council meeting earlier this month. She asked for leaders to do more to provide remedies for the crime.
"We clearly are not happy with the situation. We are trying to come up with remedies within what we can do. And it's just time is going to tell at this point," she said. "I have every intention of speaking with our lawmakers in the next 2024 session about what's going on with us because they need to know."
