This week, on the one-year anniversary of Michael Brown’s death, a familiar image came out of Ferguson, Mo., as protesters faced off against police in the city just as they did 12 months ago.
For one business owner, a night of rioting and looting disrupted a year of rebuilding not just her business, but a community.
Over the course of last year, Dellena Jones, owner of 911 Hair Salon on West Florissant Avenue, found an ally eager to help her rebuild: the St. Louis Tea Party Coalition.
But on Sunday, a group of young men shattered the left window of her beauty salon as protests flared once again in the St. Louis suburb.
Jones’ shop is located in the epicenter of where the protests occurred last year in Ferguson after Brown, an unarmed 18-year-old black man, was killed by former police officer Darren Wilson.
The looters, who robbed the store after police shot and injured a young black man who allegedly fired several shots at officers, took beauty supplies such as scissors and curling irons and flipped over one of Jones’s hair dryers. It will likely cost hundreds of dollars to purchase a new hair dryer.
“I was hoping for the best and believing for the best,” Jones said in an interview with The Daily Signal of her expectations for the anniversary of Brown’s death. “We were expecting for things to be good, and if it weren’t, not [this] bad.”
For Jones, who worked for more than a decade at the salon before taking over as owner in 2012, the burglary came after a year of struggling to get her business back on its feet.
“It’s been very challenging,” Jones said. “I’ve been trying to keep up the bills here and at home. It’s proven to be very difficult and challenging and almost impossible.”
One year ago, as the nation turned to watch Ferguson following Brown’s death, Jones became a victim of the riots and looting that took place in its wake. Her store was one of more than 30 businesses looted and damaged. One business, a QuikTrip convenience store, was burned to the ground.
Jones estimated that in the last 12 months, the protests have caused her to lose roughly $75,000—a combination of lost revenue from a decrease in foot traffic along West Florissant Avenue and the cost of repairing her shop.
“You have all of these different protesters. They don’t pop into your business and say, ‘Hey, what do you need?’ or ‘Hey, are you all OK?’” Jones said. “It just seems like with the protests, it seems very selfish.”
After last year’s protests, the St. Louis Tea Party Coalitionrallied volunteers to participate in “buycotts” of Ferguson businesses to show people that yes, the stores in the town were open for business, and yes, it’s safe to shop in the city.
And over the last few months, the group has also been helping Jones put her store back together.
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