‘I broke down and started crying’: Maple Ridge tea shop owner heartbroken after another break in
Posted September 25, 2023 11:10 am.
Last Updated September 25, 2023 11:13 am.
A Maple Ridge business owner says she’s heartbroken after her store was broken into and vandalized last week.
Taryn Stephenson co-owns Once Upon A Tea Leaf on 224 Street with her mother. She says she was notified by her security company that there had been a break in around 2:30 a.m. Thursday, and that the fire department had been called.
“On my way out, I looked back on the security footage and I saw a man smash the window and throw something inside the store. And then I went and looked at a different angle and I just saw smoke and then everything turned orange,” she told CityNews Monday.
“At that point, I wasn’t sure if that was flames. I had no idea, I had no idea if I was going to show up to a huge fire. I broke down and started crying immediately.”
Stephenson shared surveillance footage on social media. In the video, as she described, a man is seen walking up to the storefront before the front window was smashed. That person, who was wearing all black, is then seen throwing something into the store before running off.
The next shot shows the store being filled with smoke, before cutting to the exterior when firefighters arrived on scene.
Stephenson says the damage is “immeasurable,” adding she doesn’t have a full picture of what exactly she’s dealing with.
A person is seen throwing something into the Once Upon A Tea Leaf shop in Maple Ridge on Thursday, Sept. 21, 2023, after the business’ front windows were smashed. (Submitted)
She explains the device that was tossed into her store was a “marine pyrotechnic device,” which is generally used to send distress signals from the water from big vessels.
“It lets off smoke but it also lets off this orange dye so it’s highly visible. As we know, smoke can penetrate every nook and cranny into a space, but now that it’s settled, it’s stained everything bright orange,” Stephenson explained. “I have probably $100,000 to $200,000 worth of stock that I don’t feel is sellable or salvageable.”
Later in the footage she shared online, Stephenson is seen walking people through some of the damage, including the smashed glass and orange stain.
“We’ve boarded up the windows, cried hard and today we need to figure out our next steps,” a caption on the video reads.
While she’s confident insurance will eventually kick in, Stephenson says it likely won’t cover “the irreplaceable and priceless items” that she holds most dear to her heart.
“We have family heirlooms in that store, we have my grandmother’s chandelier, my great grandmother’s banquette, we have pieces that my late step dad had built for us. Those are the ones that, when I get really emotional about the loss, it’s that,” she said.
The other unknown at this point is when — and if — Stephenson will be able to reopen.
“Our boutique — it’s run by my mom and I. We are locally owned, female founded, and we pour our heart into every aspect of that boutique. The reason we do that is we want people to feel welcome and like they’re at home,” she explained.
“We have all of these beautiful sentimental pieces that mean something to us and that are a part of our story. We always say that Once Upon a Tea Leaf is where your story begins because in our family, we put the kettle on when we’re celebrating or when we’re dealing with big things and not-so-great things. It’s a part of our history and our story in that space and the loss of those items or the damage of those items, it’s hurtful, it makes me sad. Sometimes when I think about it, it makes me very angry.”
Once Upon A Tea Leaf broken into, vandalized twice this year: owner
To add insult to injury, Stephenson says this latest incident was not the only time the store was vandalized this year.
She tells CityNews someone smashed the glass and then deployed a can of bear spray inside the business this past June.
That resulted in cleanup and repair costs, as well as closure-related revenue losses. Stephenson says she’s now questioning whether the two incidents are connected, adding, they feel “too similar to not be connected.”
The business owners have filed a police report, with Stephenson saying the RCMP has been paying close attention.
“They’re taking it very seriously. They understand that as two female owner-operators we’re scared that this was an act of hate and violence that was done to send a message and cause fear. It has. The outcome of this could have been awful for our community. Those devices could have ignited our boutique and our entire block is old, wooden, heritage buildings that are all connected. We could have lost our entire part of the downtown core because of this,” Stephenson said.
For right now, Stephenson says she and her mom are waiting for insurance adjustors to assess the damage and identify next steps. A GoFundMe campaign has also been launched to help support Once Upon a Tea Leaf and “bridge the gap between despair and hope.”
Stephenson says she’s hopeful they’ll be able to bounce back.
“I’m just waiting to hear what the next steps are, if I need to find a new location …, if I will be able to be open for the holiday season in that location, which would be a miracle on 224 Street. I’m just waiting,” she said.
In three days, the GoFundMe had managed to raise over $10,000.
