BALTIMORE — Many business owners in West Baltimore found themselves frightened in the neighborhoods they serve after rioters broke windows and lit buildings on fire Monday night.
“You didn’t know what was gonna happen, what might happen to you,” said Daisy Bush, owner of D & D Variety Store on W. North Avenue in West Baltimore.
Bush says she lost three days of revenue because she was forced to shut her doors with the large crowds and police activity outside her shop.
“People were scared to come out and buy,” she said.
Bush’s store wasn’t damaged in the violence, but steps from her store is a CVS Pharmacy that was completely destroyed. She fears the CVS might not rebuild, but she says the other stores that are run by people who live in the community will come back.
She says the key to moving forward without violence is for parents to talk to their kids and tell them violence isn’t the answer. She says they need to realize the businesses they destroy are the ones which could have employed them in the future.
But, she says, the community and area businesses are also part of the solution because “it’s our city, our responsibility.”
