Chick Boss Cake owner to relocate due to increase in crime

The owner of Chick Boss Cake has had enough of the vandalism and theft of her business near Wellington Street and Horton Street East.

“It's been a very challenging last couple of years in that location with the increase in drug activity and crime, and particularly for us in vandalism,” explained Chick Boss Cake owner, Rebecca Hamilton.

With delivery vehicles damaged, windows smashed and doors kicked in, Hamilton added that it’s been an ever growing problem that isn’t being addressed.

“As a business owner, I'm very solution focused and solution oriented. So when I don't get a tangible solution that's going to be proactive and preventative going forward from the city or from police, then I feel like I have to take matters into my own hand and do what's in my control, which is physically just moving our location,” she said.

By the end of the year, Hamilton will be set up in a new location in a southeast suburb plaza location – and she isn`t the only one who’s vacated the core.

Ben Farhi from Farhi Holdings, the largest property owner in downtown London, said prospective tenants don’t even want to look downtown.

“When we take them on tours, we find a parking spot, we walk down the street and basically they said, ‘Let's just skip to the suburbs, show us what you have in the suburbs,’” he explained.

Farhi said they have had to pay millions of dollars to try and mitigate the safety and security concerns from tenants’ downtown.

“It's escalated to a point where we're having to pay over $1,000,000 in security, private security. On top of the security is millions of dollars in upkeep every year and hundreds of thousands of dollars in fixing up damages, vandalism, theft, you know, broken windows. You can't get insurance on that today,” he added.

Farhi is optimistic the city will find a solution, citing positive signs from new London Police Services Chief Thai Truong.

Hamilton however said she doesn't see the change. Dealing with theft and vandalism has become the primary part of owning her business, something she is hopeful will be different in her new location.

“We just want to be in a very quiet area with lots of parking, easy access where our customers feel comfortable bringing their family and their kids, and our staff feel safe and comfortable going into work. And we don't have to call the police five times a day,” she said.

Chick Boss Cake joins a growing list of businesses like McDonalds, Starbucks and Rexall to vacate the downtown core over the last two years.