Retailers nationwide were in fear for their lives as their stores were ransacked by racist thugs in a series of far-right riots.
Weeks of violence starting at the end of July have seen small shops fall victim to a wave of arson and looting.
The manager of Sham Supermarket in South Belfast described how the store was “reduced to ashes” on 3 August after rioters ripped down the shutters and forced their way into the shop.
The manager said: “People destroying, burning. I almost got killed. Nobody did anything to help.”
‘They smashed everything’
In Stoke-on-Trent, another store owner had bricks thrown at their car as they raced to protect the shop, which was targeted by right-wing thugs.
They told Better Retailing: “As I’m driving up to the store, they were throwing bricks over my car. There are several other shops around the town centre who woke up with no jobs. Obviously people can’t afford to rebuild.”
Ardalan Othman, of King Store in Liverpool, lost £25,000-worth of stock after rioters rushed into his store and ransacked the premises.
He said: “They smashed everything. They’ve broken everything. They took all the cigarettes, vapes, cash, everything. I think probably it’s more than £25,000. That’s just counted from cash, vapes and cigarettes.
“It’s difficult. I’m feeling terrible. It’s hard. I don’t know how to manage it.”
Othman has since had a GoFundMe page set up to recoup his losses, which has so far raised £190 of a £15,000 target.
Read the full story on how the far-right riots have affected retailers in the 13 August issue of Retail Express
Comments
This article doesn't have any comments yet, be the first!