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How a Malden sneaker shop plans to rebuild after looting “We really couldn’t believe it for a second,” said Toribio. “We were happy that nobody was there in the process, no one got hurt.”
Several other sneaker stores throughout Boston were damaged or looted as part of the violence that followed the George Floyd protests on May 31. WCVB aired live footage of looters leaving
Concepts on Boylston Street with sneaker boxes and jackets, and Laced lost over $75,000 worth of merchandise, according to the _Boston Globe_. Despite the losses, both shops came forward in
support of the protests. On the morning following Laa Tiendaa’s damages, the community rallied around Toribio and Kraus. A GoFundMe was set up to help the business reopen and has since
raised over $7,000, which will be used to refund the owners of the items they were selling on consignment, replenish their stock, fix damages to the store, and invest in a roll-down gate to
protect the business in the future. Some of their stolen product included sneakers on consignment, which the store plans to fully compensate the owners. It’s still unclear to Toribio how
much their insurance will cover losses. Advertisement: “When you have this much support from all your friends, families, people from out of state supporting you that you know, it’s beautiful
at the end of the day,” said Toribio. “It really strengthened my core to really work even harder for the community.” Laa Tiendaa doesn’t have a set reopening date yet, but Toribio hopes to
begin serving customers again with the next two weeks. Despite the challenges he and Kraus are facing, though, he still stands with the protesters. “We understand why it’s happening. It’s
been centuries and centuries and centuries…that their voices have not been heard at all,” said Toribio. “The last thing we want is for one of our friends, God forbid, to go to the other side
of life just because of the [color of his skin]. It’s very sad. We stand with the people no matter what, and we agree with whatever we have to do to voice our opinions.” Close Modal
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