Some storefronts remain boarded up in cities across the country, even in places that haven't seen significant civil unrest since late May and early June after the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
In Kenosha, Wis., Kelly Deem boarded up her bakery Monday after many nearby businesses were smashed and ransacked following protests over the shooting of Mr. Blake.
She said the entire downtown is boarded up, and in several spots people have written "Kids live here" on the plywood to dissuade people from burning businesses with apartments above.
In West Philadelphia, many businesses suffered significant damage and still have boards up because owners can't afford repairs, said Jabari Jones, president of the West Philadelphia Corridor Collaborative, a business association.
Fewer than three-dozen businesses still have plywood up compared with nearly 300 during the civil unrest in early June, said Paul Levy, president of the Center City District, a business-improvement district.
In Louisville, Ky., they have been reluctant to remove boards because they fear further unrest when the state's attorney general announces whether he will charge police officers in the death of Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old Black woman fatally shot by police in her apartment in March.
In New York City's SoHo shopping district, which was hit hard by looting, a handful of retail storefronts on Broadway remain boarded up, down from about 100 in June, and shoppers are slowly but steadily returning to the neighborhood, particularly on the weekends, said Mark Dicus, executive director of the SoHo Broadway Initiative.
Monday, August 31, 2020
After Unrest, Small Businesses Wrestle With Plywood Storefronts
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