CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A NoDa market and bar was broken into on Christmas Eve and the burglary was captured on the business’s surveillance video.
The burglary happened at The Exchange at 36th around 8 p.m. on Sunday.
“I started getting alerts from ADT that we had a break-in,” said owner Kevin Samuel. “So I showed up, and police were already there.”
Samuel said the thieves broke in through the front door. They used an object that appeared to be a rock to shatter the glass before kicking it open and making their way inside.
“The glass for the door, the front door, was broken,” Samuel said. “They stole liquor and wine, probably around $500, at least.”
Samuel said they are still calculating the cost of what was stolen. The video shows the bandits behind the counter. They then leave with several bottles and a case of booze. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police said the suspects were seen leaving in a white Ford van.
Samuel said it’s a loss they’ll have to cover out of pocket.
“All these kinds of things, we've got to just eat it because if we got through insurance, and it's not that high of a claim, our insurance will go up,” Samuel said.
The business plans to order a new panel to replace the broken door. In the meantime, plywood was used to cover it.
It is not the first time the business has been robbed. A few years ago, thieves broke into the business on Labor Day weekend and stole the cash register and all of the money inside. Samuel said the plywood covering the door now is the same one they used back then. Local artists had painted over it and they kept it as art and now it is back on the front door.
General Manager Kaelan Rae at Zambies, a new pizza spot a block away from The Exchange said the break-in is concerning and hopes these thefts are not a growing trend in NoDa.
“We decided to go cashless… just for that reason,” Rae said. “Maybe someone will not break in because we don’t have any cash here.”
Rae said actions like these hurt the livelihood of local businesses.
“We’re a brand new business and so every dollar counts,” Rae said. “We really want to make it and absolutely anything we can do to protect ourselves from break-ins.”
Some community members are concerned about safety.
“It makes me wonder if there is an appropriate police presence, maybe there needs to be more,” said NoDa resident Wes Beadle.
Folks are also shocked that the burglary happened on a holiday.
“We have gotten to know Kevin personally,” said Rae. “So the fact that this stuff happens and they would want to target him just makes me sad”
“It’s disappointing that people are doing that on Christmas Eve,” Beadle said. “You’d hope that they would be spending time with their families.”
Meanwhile, Samuel is looking for ways to better protect his business. He is grateful for the community support and staff who came in to help clean up the mess.
“We've got to kind of evolve and figure out what to do to make sure it doesn't happen again,” Samuel said.
Samuel has one message for the thieves: "I hope it was worth it."
Anyone with information on this is asked to contact the police.
Contact Jesse Pierre at jpierrepet@wcnc.com or follow her on Facebook, X and Instagram.
Editor's note: This story originally referred to the incident as a robbery. The story has since been corrected to reflect that the incident was a burglary.