Business owner Jordan Grossman had a birthday he would rather forget earlier this week.
Mr Grossman, who turned 36 on Monday, arrived at his takeaway pizza business off the Walkinstown roundabout in Dublin that morning to discover it had been “upturned”, with cash stolen.
He has been running Deano’s Wood Fired Pizza out of a large steel container at the location for the last three years.
A number of other small food businesses were targeted in southwest Dublin in the early hours of Monday, as well as over recent weeks. Gardaí said they were investigating the burglaries.
RM Block
A number of vehicles were also stolen in the early hours of Monday from a business premises on the Naas Road in Clondalkin, gardaí said.
Mr Grossman said the intruders smashed his CCTV cameras and he was told by gardaí they are reviewing nearby residents’ footage.
“They upturned the container, took everything out of it and threw it everywhere. They took a chunk out of the roof with a hammer and the hard drive for the cameras was smashed,” he said.
“It looks like they tried to get in the front door with a crowbar but they got through the window somehow. We don’t keep much on site, just our float, so there was only about €100 to take.”
Mr Grossman said new CCTV and repair works will probably cost “a couple of grand”.
“It could be slightly less or slightly more,” he said. “It’s pretty upsetting, when you’re a solo business at this time of year trying to make a few quid and the place is turned upside down.”
Tribe coffee company, located in the car park of Ballyboden St Enda’s GAA club, was also broken into during the early hours of Monday morning.
Co-owner Simon Lambert said CCTV footage showed two men initially trying to get into the clubhouse before forcing their way into his container.
“They spent two minutes trying to prise the door open with a crowbar, couldn’t and went back to the car to get a sledgehammer and they hit the door three belts and got it open,” he said.
“They just pulled the place apart looking for money, looking for anything. They made off with some cash and a couple of other things, nothing major. They didn’t go near any of the coffee equipment which is obviously our pride and joy and what we’re known for. So thankfully they didn’t do that.”
Mr Lambert said the intruders took “a substantial amount of cash” from the business he operates alongside Finn McGarry.
“Normally we wouldn’t hold cash but it was just the weekend that was in it. I wasn’t around and neither was Finn so that’s why it was left there,” he said.
“We cleaned up yesterday and opened back up. The cost of getting the cash we lost and getting the door fixed and shutters, we just couldn’t afford to close after losing what we did. They smashed one of the cameras as well so we have to get that fixed.
“It’s disappointing when you’re a small business and you’re just trying to earn a living and sustain a business. It’s just the nature of the time of year, these lads are opportunistic.”
