Posted on 11/28/2014 1:17:57 PM PST by SeekAndFind
It will be a quiet Black Friday on Ferguson's West Florissant Avenue. The modest commercial strip that runs through the heart of the embattled city has been devastated by rioting and looting. Now, a haze of doubt hangs over many workers and merchants there who wonder whether their businesses can survive the terrible toll — and the fear of possible uprisings to come.
Some retailers, like Mohamad Yaacoub, have been slammed twice by violence. His store, Sam's Meat Market, was looted in August after unarmed, 18-year-old Michael Brown was fatally shot by Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson. On Monday night, arsonists nearly burned that market to the ground.
"To be honest with you, I'm lost now," Yaacoub told NBC News after touring the charred shell that once was Sam's. The exterior brick walls are the only salvageable chunks. The roof is gone. "I'm not sure money-wise. Money-wise, it's just too hard.
"I had to borrow $700 to buy some wood, just to put the boards together to close up where (the rioters) came in from, to close the building. It's just too much, you know," added Yaacoub, who carries insurance coverage for fire damage but isn't certain when or how much he might be paid to begin a rebuild. A friend launched a fund to help pay for the market's restoration.
At a strip mall two doors down from the remnants of Sam's, looters smashed the glass at the Clip Appeal salon then hurled a Molotov cocktail inside. Two local men grabbed plastic water bottles and dashed inside the shop to try to douse the flames, said Leeanna Moore, a 22-year employee.
While Moore cheered those heroics, she admitted she hasn't decided if she will ever return to work at the salon, which also carries insurance.
(Excerpt) Read more at nbcnews.com ...
I don't feel too awful sorry for them - Why didn't they come out en force against the looters/burners - They stood down and let it happen -
Standing by and wringing your hands is aiding and abetting - sins of omission -
Well, we both care because neither of us wants tax dollars used for one thing.
As for rebuilding, you and the other poster were right. Let wallow in the mess they made of things.
It had been my take the people from Ferguson weren’t involved to a large extent. I can’t back them if they were, so I honestly would rather see the business district turn onto a ghost town.
Let them live with their treachery.
That’s even worse ... cop shoots gentle giant with no arms!
As I pointed out, its the right values.
It doesn’t matter what public funds or private capital go to a certain city or region.
If the people living there don’t have the values necessary to maintain a civilized way of life, nothing will take root there let alone flourish.
No amount of money is going to help if that isn’t in place.
Its not the money, stupid.
That’s an interesting point, but it sounds as if they were involved to a much greater extent than I first believed.
I'll venture to guess that most, if not all, of the ferals were bussed in.
Cheap lease
In LA, it's become trendy to build a fortress around a business...Concertina wire on top of real big walls, cameras, alarms up the ying yang, secured parking on and on....
The lady who needed 20,000 to repair her cake store has collected 250,000 in online donations.
YES, a quarter million!! Surely she will share that with other hurt businesses?
The place is a hellhole in the process of becoming...
SUE THE NEWS FILTH!!! That is exactly what I think! Journal vermin like NBC News here crying their fake tears over the injured should have to pay for making these folks whole again.
FYI...
Early on in the arrests it was reported of 50+ arrests only 2 were outsiders...the rest local.
No. I haven’t. You witnessed this in Oakland? I am surprised.
Rather like the Muslim population who will not stand against their own.
Short answer is most likely NO. To this day, my town of Detroit never fully recovered from the 1967 riots, which i vividly recall. Our Michigan riots were a pic nic compared to the Bagdad Treatment Gov. Nixon saved up for Ferguson.
That is my recommendation. Name me one place that had riots, which has ever recovered? There may be a rare exception of gentrification, but it won’t happen here.
The national media, naturally, yawned, but the impact is real. And it’s still going on, with another event planned for this weekend.
St. Louis Tea Party leader Bill Hennessy described the first day of the “BUYcott” on the group’s Facebook page.
A gentlman (my age) in the salon (husband?) asked who we were with. I told him “St. Louis Tea Party.”
“Tea party?” he said. “You bad boys,” and chuckled. Then he looked at me, very serious. He said, “The tea party came up here to do this?”
“Oh, yeah,” I said. “we don’t want to see Ferguson go south.”
He laughed. And he looked at me. Then he was quiet, lost in thought for a minute. When he came out of it, he was like our best friend. Laughing, giving us crap about stuff, telling stories. He admitted baseball can be like “watching grass grow.”
In that moment of reflection, I’m sure he was trying to reconcile “tea party” with what he was seeing–four white people, ages 18 to 50, laughing, spending money, empathizing.
That moment made the whole event worthwhile.
In other shops, we’d get hard stares when we walked in and shopped. Once we told them “we’re with the tea party, and we’re here to shop,” these people actually shouted. “Thank you, thank you, thank you so much.” …
This wasn’t a big win in breadth, but it was monumental in depth.
(from the Blaze)
Four black Ferguson residents reportedly armed themselves and descended upon a white-owned business..BUT... unlike many of the Ferguson demonstrators, the armed men were there 'to protect the business', not destroy it in protest.
they feel indebted to the white store owner, Doug Merello, who has given them employment over the years.
“We would have been burned to the ground many times over if it weren’t for them,”... Morello said following the Ferguson riots...... The business is a Conoco gas station and convenience store first bought by Morello’s father in 1984.
he black residents reportedly chased off groups of teenagers who allegedly wanted to loot the store. They also reportedly had a close-call after they were mistaken for looters by soldiers with the Missouri National Guard. One of the men was reportedly handcuffed temporarily until Morello could explain to the soldiers what they were doing at his business.
Luckily, they were able to protect the business and no one was hurt. It should also be noted that Missouri is an open carry state.
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