‘Hopeless and helpless’: Charity looks for new location after third break-in

A thrift store that aims to raise funds for survivors of domestic violence was broken into again.

Retail Therapy KW thrift and consign was founded by Executive Director of the Domestic Violence Victim’s Alliance, Amanda Kroetsch, who said the latest incident has left the team feeling disheartened.

“This is the third time this year, so it’s ridiculous. It’s starting to feel really hopeless you know and helpless.”

The helpless part is coming from a lack of answers, as they have yet to receive any follow-ups from Waterloo Regional Police after the previous break-ins this year.

The first one at Retail Therapy happened in April with the second one taking place a few months later in August.

A small amount of cash, a staff laptop and bags full of donated items were stolen from the store Dec. 18.

“The security footage shows they had a bunch of bags with them when they left so were still also trying to identify other items that they might have taken,” said Kroetsch.

She mentioned the store is currently wall-to-wall with donated items, the main problem is funding as they have a limited budget to add more security measures.

“The overnight thefts have been quite shocking to be honest because we don’t have a ton of stuff that has any high value,” said Kroetsch.

Waterloo Regional Police have since released a suspect photo of a person they believe is connected with the break-in.

Retail Therapy is located on Victoria Street near downtown Kitchener, close to other services for domestic violence survivors. Kroetsch mentioned that they are currently located in an older building that has limited amounts of security. The store’s board members have been actively searching for a new location since the first break-in.

“Unfortunately, we’re going to have to do an extensive amount of fundraising before we would financially be able to move into a location that would be better suited for our needs. Quite frankly we have 6,000 sq. ft. now and we really need about 20,00 sq. ft. or more,” added Kroetsch.

As they look for a new, bigger and safer location, Kroetsch hopes more people will come to purchase items to help offset costs incurred by the recent break-in. The store’s owner is also on the hunt for a new laptop to be donated as they have limited funds to purchase a new one.