At least four Kansas City food and beverage businesses located within miles of each other were victims of overnight break-ins early Monday.
Brookside Sushi, 408 E. 63rd St.; Custard, 5905 Main Street; The Smallest Pastry Shop, 5511 Troost Avenue; and Oddly Correct, 4141 Troost Ave.; all reported similar burglary attempts on social media. The thieves smashed their glass doors and entered the businesses looking for money and valuables.
“They broke our double glazed glass front door and frantically searched around the store for high value items but only managed to snag our cash drawer which only contained change – we “empty every night,” Mike Schroeder, co-owner. of Oddly accurate, told the Star. He estimated the cost of replacing the door would be between $800 and $1,200.
“It happened around 1 a.m.,” said Alex Wood, co-owner of Custard. “Fortunately, the damage was limited to the door.”
The owners of Littlest Bake Shop and Brookside Sushi did not respond to requests for comment. On Instagram, Brookside Sushi job that it was closed Monday due to the burglary but would reopen Tuesday evening. The smallest pastry shared a photo on Instagram of its broken glass door.
Officer Jacob Becchina, a spokesman for the Kansas City Police Department, said Monday that police could not yet confirm whether the crimes were related.
For French Custard, this is the third burglary since Wood and his wife, Jessica, opened their store in Brookside. Last year. In one incident last summer, thieves threw a brick through the front door and ran toward the register.
“But we never have cash in the store,” Wood said. “I think (thieves) target small businesses because they expect less security and less sophisticated cash management practices than corporate stores.”
Schroeder said Monday was Oddly Correct’s first burglary since moving to Troost from Westport Road and Main Street in 2021. But thieves stole a bolted picnic table worth $800 from their patio there two weeks ago, he said.
“I’m not really sure what the city could do to combat this,” Schroeder said. “Maybe offer grants to businesses to improve their security?
“I think increased collaboration between city officials, police and small businesses would be a good start,” Wood said. “This is a multi-faceted deal.”
