Iconic Hilltop store burglarized three times in a week. The owners stress forgiveness
It’s more than a business, which is what makes the smashed glass and stolen merchandise hurt so much.
Mr. Mac Ltd. on Hilltop is a men’s clothing store, first and foremost, but it’s also a locally treasured institution. So when plywood started going up over the store’s windows, it was only natural for community concern to follow.
As KING 5 reported, a string of three smash-and-grab burglaries have left Mr. Mac — and the store’s owners and managers — reeling. Having recently relocated a few blocks down Martin Luther King Jr. Way to help make way for a Tacoma Housing Authority development that will bring nearly 60 units of needed supportive housing to the area, the business was already hurting, thanks to COVID and ongoing light-rail construction.
According to store manager Derrick Curry, the three burglaries, which occurred over a span of five days, were an unexpected and unwelcome addition to his list of challenges. Three years ago, after the death of longtime proprietor Morris McCollum, the store was purchased by the Tacoma Ministerial Alliance — in part to help fund the alliance’s important work in the community, like homeless outreach and prevention — so anything that hurts the business also hurts those he’s trying to help, he said.
“It’s been really difficult. People are just not shopping,” Curry explained of the beloved store’s current plight. “Mr. Mac has been in the community for so many years, I can’t figure out why someone would do this.”
As Tacoma Police spokesperson Wendy Haddow explained, there’s not much evidence to go on. The first burglary was reported early on the morning of Sept. 13 and involved what she described as “a large piece of landscaping” being thrown through one of the store’s windows and items being snagged through the hole. Days later, on Sept. 17, essentially the same thing occurred.
Then on Sunday, Sept. 19, alarms sounded once again. This time when Curry arrived at the store, he found more broken glass and evidence that someone had made their way inside the store and stolen a number of suits.
In total, Curry estimated that Mr. Mac has lost more than $6,000 in merchandise.
“For (someone) to come in and burglarize the store and take merchandise like that, it doesn’t make sense. We’re there for the community, because we give back to the community,” Curry said.
That’s one of the things that gets Shiloh Baptist Pastor Gregory Christopher, too. Christopher serves as president of the Tacoma Ministerial Alliance, and on Thursday he told The News Tribune he “feels really strongly” that Mr. Mac has been targeted. He’s just not sure why.
Sometimes, Christopher has wondered if the Ministerial Alliance’s racial and social justice work, or his own high-profile exploits, including a 2017 arrest while protesting for health care access in Washington D.C., could have something to do with it. At other times, he’s been at a loss to explain it, other than a nagging feeling that the burglaries weren’t random.
While Haddow said there’s no evidence that the burglaries were a hate crime and none to suggest that the business was singled out for any reason other than opportunity, Christopher said that hasn’t made it any easier to wrap his mind around.
One thing he’s certain of, however? He has no real interest in seeing whoever is responsible punished.
When the Ministerial Alliance purchased Mr. Mac, it did so in hopes of providing financial support to the organization’s work in the community, Christopher recalled. While COVID has made that more difficult than anticipated, helping people who need it is still something the Alliance is dedicated to, he explained.
“What these people have done really hurt us, but I feel like reaching to them with a hand of forgiveness would better serve humanity, period,” Christopher said.
“So that’s where we’re at.”
