MINNEAPOLIS – Hardware retail stores are taking advantage of the return of winter and a mom-and-pop store in south Minneapolis says copper thieves and thieves are doing their best to do business as usual this year.
With forecasters reporting cold temperatures and snow, it was expected to be a good day for sales at Welna Hardware.
“We want to spend all of our time and energy on crime issues instead of preparing for a snowstorm, shovels, salts, snowplows and things like that, it’s very disheartening,” said Mark Welna, owner of Welna Hardware in South Minneapolis. .
Welna spent the day speaking with police about the theft of copper and the financial impact it would have on his business.
“It’s about two feet of copper pipe, which costs less than a dollar at a junkyard, and will cost $4,000 to $5,000 to replace next spring,” Welna said.
Welna Hardware has been a staple of the Phillips neighborhood for over seven decades but in recent years Welna has seen the community change.
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His business is two blocks from the last homeless encampment in south Minneapolis. Mark probably wouldn’t say that the other people who live in the camp live in the camp, but he says the addiction takes money out of his family’s pocket.
“There’s an addiction factor that we want to solve somehow,” Welna said.
Mark believes drug-driven crime is driving many people out of South Minneapolis.
“I know Kauffman Roofing in Seward is moving to Apple Valley, Deans Vending, I just talked to them, they’re moving to St. Petersburg. John’s. Louis Park,” Welna said.
Because we’re talking about the real root of the problem, which is addiction,” Hardy said.
Hardy is the owner of Spirit Care Services and Welna.
“Until the city and county recognize that this is an addiction problem, they’re going to keep popping up,” Hardy said.
But until something is done about the challenge of addiction, corporations will have to deal with the crime that accompanies it.
“My son Sam said we’re going to let this kick us out of the community after 70 years,” Welna said. “We’re committed to staying here. “
Police stepped up patrols in the Phillips neighborhood. So far, they haven’t made any arrests.