Downtown merchants along Specialty Avenue on Fourth Avenue come together to help each other when there’s trouble.
Walk-Rite Shoes manager Chantelle Rioux said the store has been in downtown Prince George for more than seven years and there’s been plenty of activity but no theft for about a year now.
Over the years, there's been smash-and-grab theft of the shoes on display in the front window, shoplifting, evidence of drug use in the back alley, employee car windows smashed to gain access, human waste at the back door and burned stairs.
"Downtown used to be so nice,” she says with a sigh.
Rioux said the merchants band together and keep each other in the know when something has occurred and when there’s trouble an urgent text is sent and help is only moments away as they come to each other’s rescue.
There’s safety in numbers and so if trouble is brewing inside the store, Rioux said she pushes a button under the front counter that is connected to a doorbell at the back of the store.
“That is the signal that all staff needs to come to the front of the store,” Rioux said. “And most times just us all being in that little space is all that’s needed."
Rioux said she knows there’s not enough support for those living on the streets of downtown Prince George.
“They need help whether it’s because they are drugs users or they have mental health issues,” Rioux said. “And we all know there’s no help for people with mental health issues here. So they need to be treated like everyone else who comes into the store because we don’t know their stories.”
Over the years, Rioux has learned how to adjust her own behaviour to adapt to the circumstances and she knows one thing for sure.
“Every human has a right to be respected and we treat everyone who comes into the store the same way,” she explained.
