REGINA - Jasmine Paterson, owner of Bellezza Moda: Beauty and Fashion, has had trouble sleeping after her Quance Street location was broken into for the second time since 2023.
On Tuesday, Paterson woke up at around 3:40 a.m., where she was alerted of a backdoor entry at her east location.
Because there was no camera at the back, Paterson wasn’t exactly sure what was happening but could hear noises through the camera.
She decided to contact the police while heading over to the store. There, Paterson found no items were taken, and the only damages were to the backdoor.
The break-in cost Paterson approximately $1,000 between replacing the door, adding cameras, and labour costs.
"It's exhausting to have to deal with this," she said. "These break-ins could end up costing someone their entire business, and it's just unfair because there's really no solution for the emotional expense that it takes on a person."
Paterson herself has been exhausted since Tuesday, worrying she will be woken up by another alert that her store is being robbed.
Her employees have also had trouble sleeping, as they panic during the night.
This incident hadn’t been the first time the store was broken into.
Back in September 2023, a robber took body jewelry, fashion jewelry, accessories and more from the store.
Between the stolen goods and damages, Paterson lost $60,000 of value on the market.
The whole incident took Paterson nearly 10 hours to clean up the store, with glass from the break-in still being found to this day.
Paterson felt the effects of the first break-in for months.
"It took about a month to kind of get back to a regular sleep routine, not panicking at 3 a.m. [anymore]."
She also had to take out a loan because the insurance would only cover $40,000 of the $60,000, which doesn't factor in daily expenses, Paterson noted
Paterson only paid off the loan back in Dec., which added additional costs on top of the $20,000 because of interest.
Saleswise, Paterson had limited stock for months, which was concerning for her.
"[I was] worrying because if they didn't find the product here, the customers would start going [somewhere else]."
Now dealing with two break-ins, Paterson is calling for more police presence available to help citizens.
She referenced it took the cops three hours to respond to the 2023 break-in.
While she understands they’re more serious matters for the police to prioritize, Paterson couldn't fathom no one in the city being available for that long.
On Friday, the RPS revealed a new "Community ON: Neighbourhood Watch Reimagined,” which aims to strengthen community watch.
Part of that announcement was the RPS allocating two officers to address the community's concerns in Ward 4, with plans to expand across the city later this year.
When asked if this initiative was a solution in her eyes, Paterson said, "That would be more than satisfactory in my opinion."
She has high hopes for the program, believing it can benefit businesses across Regina.
As for Paterson, she is focused on expanding her store to two new locations, Moose Jaw and Calgary.
