Store owner’s melancholy message prophetic

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This article was published 08/11/2022 (777 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Instead of greeting customers Friday morning — the same day his longtime Chinatown business was featured in the Free Press about its imminent closure — Francis Tsang cleaned up glass and stared at an empty cash register.

“This is unbelievable,” Tsang said on Tuesday as he walked around his grocery store, which had been broken into after he closed up shop Thursday.

He pulled back a large calendar hanging on Oriental Market’s wall. It covered a large hole — one Tsang suspects thieves made during their break-in.

He will close Oriental Market on Nov. 30. Not because of crime, but because he and his sister are retiring; the kids don’t want to take over, he said.

He spoke to the Free Press about the decision last Thursday, and how Chinatown has gone “from good to worse” during the 43 years he’s been in business. That night, his store was broken into. It’s not the first time.

“They do the same thing,” Tsang said. “Exactly the same window.”

He pointed to a window, near ground level, that had been shattered. The perpetrators likely came through the window, broke drywall and ransacked the front counter, Tsang said.

Last week, they took $3,000 in cash and scratch tickets. They left the food, from what Tsang can tell.

“This is terrible,” he said, opening an empty drawer that should’ve contained the lottery tickets.

He boarded up the windows and a damaged wall.

The last break-in like this happened years ago — he doesn’t remember when, but the criminals snatched around $10,000 and plenty of packs of cigarettes, he said.

Vandals have thrown rocks through his windows several times over the past three years, he added.

“People need cash, whether it’s to fuel addictions or what have you.”–Ben Lee

“There might be a bunch of people. They come into our parking lot (at) night,” Tsang said. “You always see those drinks, chips, needles, whatever.”

Downtown patrols stop by during the day. Still, something needs to change — maybe more patrolling, he said.

“Shopping around here, (I) don’t feel quite safe — especially as a young female all by myself,” said Indra Calix, who was in Oriental Market Tuesday.

The 32-year-old said she felt safer during the day but likely wouldn’t go out at night.

Winnipeg police received calls for three commercial break and enters in Chinatown last week, according to its Calls for Service map. The area saw 25 property crime-related calls to police over the past 10 weeks, ending the week of Halloween.

Non-violent crime decreased in Chinatown last July compared to the July prior — to 93 incidents from 96, according to Winnipeg Police Service data. In July 2020, the number was 119.

Violent crime in July also decreased — to 27 incidents from July 2021’s 38.

Still, crime is prevalent, according to both Tsang and Kit Lam, an employee at Kum Koon Garden who spoke to the Free Press last week.

“It’s crimes of opportunity,” said Ben Lee, board president for the Winnipeg Chinese Cultural and Community Centre. “People need cash, whether it’s to fuel addictions or what have you.”

Chinatown, like many areas of the city, has a substantial homeless population, Lee noted.

“I hope that our elected officials… try to address some of these very important issues,” he said.

Chinatown is on a development path based on a plan the City of Winnipeg, CentreVenture Development Corp., the province and stakeholders released in 2019, Lee said.

“We recognize it’s going to take 20 years,” he said. “We know that we’re not going to get everything we need tomorrow.”

Meantime, the Winnipeg Chinese Cultural and Community Centre will continue to host events like last month’s night market to “start activating the streets,” Lee said.

gabrielle.piche@winnipegfreepress.com