LOUISVILLE, Ky. — For the second time in two weeks, one of Free Hype Shop's two locations has been broken into and burglarized.
Garrett Cissell, owner of the Free Hype Shop locations, said the latest incident happened early Thursday morning at his Dundee Road location, in the Belknap neighborhood.
"The first thing I think is just like 'wow', you know, like it does make you wonder, like, why do I do this?" Cissell said. "[It's] just kind of one of those things that does mess with your head a little bit. You don't, you don't know how to look at people the same."
Cissell shared shop surveillance video from Thursday's break-in with WHAS11 News. In the video, you can see one suspect attempt to shatter the shop's glass window before breaking the glass front door. You can then see at least four burglars enter the shop and ransack it.
The burglars made away with many mismatched pairs of sneakers, Cissell said.
"Unfortunately, it was mostly left and right [shoes]. It's a lot of mismatches," he said. "I don't think they got a lot of matches, but for us, we're left with a lot of empty spaces on the wall."
In total, Cissell estimated the damages will cost his business about $30,000.
"[It's] a huge reminder, you know, to tighten up, to be on point, to not get comfortable," Cissell said. "I think in business, you know, I've had losses before, and I've had times where I felt like, you know, I needed to be on point every day."
Just two weeks ago, Cissell said, his other business off Bardstown Road was burglarized.
"That was like a $15 maybe $20,000 loss -- you know, [a] nice $50,000 in missing inventory in two weeks," he said. "[It] definitely hits you in the mouth."
While the negatives have boggled business for now, Cissell said him and his shops employees are looking toward the future.
"At the moment, man, we just want to get back open and get back focused on our community here," Cissell said. "I'm really just focusing on getting my shoe store back open, keeping everything in motion for 2024."
Free Hype Shop is accepting donations as it tries to bounce back from this latest burglary, Cissell said. The GoFundMe link can be found here.
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