Rains PDX was opened in 2019. The store sells raincoats and waterproof bags and was the first US partner with Rains Denmark. Over the weekend, owner Marcy Landolfo announced she was closing the store permanently because of constant break-ins and danger to her employees.

Marcy Landolfo is at her breaking point. This week marked the 15th break-in at Rains PDX within a year and a half.

Landolfo said most of those repairs at the Northeast Portland location were paid for out of pocket. Other times, she just left the windows boarded up.

“It’s just too much with the losses that are not covered by insurance, the damages, everything. It’s just not sustainable,” Landolfo said…

“The products that are being targeted are the very expensive winter products and I just felt like the minute I get those in the store they’re going to get stolen,” she said.

Landolfo posted a statement on the store window (that’s it above) which reads in part:

Due to the constant and unrelenting criminal behavior coupled with escalating safety issues for our employees, we’ve decided to permanently close.

Our city is in peril. Small businesses (and large) cannot sustain doing business in our city’s current state. We have no protection, or recourse, against the criminal behavior that goes unpunished. Do not be fooled into thinking that insurance companies cover losses. We have sustained 15 break-ins…we have not received any financial reimbursement since the 3rd.

The letter concludes, “Please be vigilant in voting to make our city safe again.” According to Landolfo, the break-ins were only partly of the safety problem she’s talking about. The store’s employees also had to deal with homeless people were high as a kite or simply mentally unwell.

“Everyone is focusing on the 15 break-ins,” she said. “There’s a lot of other shenanigans going on during our working hours.”

She said it started spiraling, including instances where people who were either on drugs or in some kind of mental health crisis would come in and exhibit “unsafe, criminal behavior” and become enraged…

“Small businesses have a lot stacked up against us. We have no backup from law enforcement. In my opinion, from the officers I’ve talked to that have responded, they are just as frustrated. They want to serve and protect people, they don’t want this crime happening either, but, they have to prioritize gunshots, murders, and homicides,” she said. “I don’t think anyone with a pulse can say they’re happy with how things are going in this city.”

Landolfo says she’s not trying to politicize this. “No matter where you sit on the political spectrum, I think we can all agree that criminal behavior is criminal behavior and should not be tolerated.” That certainly sounds reasonable to me and I’m sure to a lot of other Portland residents.

However, I don’t think it’s fair to assume everyone in Portland agrees. On the contrary, there are clearly quite a few residents who think vandalism is okay and that even theft can be justified as a sign of societal problems or just a way to reject capitalism. Unfortunately, those people get to vote as well. Two years ago they tried to vote in a new mayor who supported Antifa (and was a fan of Mao and Stalin). Mayor Ted Wheeler eventually won that race by just 20,000 votes but that doesn’t mean the 41% of voters who sided with the Antifa candidate have changed their minds.

Of course vandalism, theft and homelessness aren’t the only challenges Portland is facing. The city is also setting a new homicide record this year.

With more than a month left in 2022, the fatal shootings pushed Portland to a record 93 homicides, according to an Oregonian/OregonLive analysis of the city’s surge of violence. The number eclipsed the peak of 92 homicides last year, which had shattered the city’s previous record of 70 homicides in 1987…

So far this year, at least 78 of the homicide victims died in shootings.

In response to the week’s violence, Mayor Ted Wheeler said his priority for the remainder of his time in office is to address homelessness and crime.

Mayor Wheeler really is making an effort to do something about homelessness in the city but it could be sometime before we see if his plan works. In the meantime, a lot of residents are fed up and are moving on because of the same problems that are driving out retailers like Rains PDX.

Here’s an interview with Landolfo about the closure. She explains the last five break-ins happened within 24 days. “They knew, nobody’s gettin’ caught,” she said.