They thought their Tacoma business could change lives. Thieves stole their confidence

A denuded mannequin, toppled equipment and a hole in a ceiling are some of the visible scars that thieves left last week when they broke into a Tacoma clothing store that had opened three weeks prior.

Less visible are the emotional and financial tolls the crime left on the owners, employees and customers of Black Sheep Resale. The business, near the Tacoma Mall, buys and sells vintage clothing and accessories.

Business partners Faeryn Stevens and Kelly Costello know they are just the latest statistics in a crime spree sweeping the region. But that doesn’t soothe their pain. Tears come easily when the women talk about the dreams they had for their independent store and how it was quickly becoming a safe place for the city’s LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer) youth.

Now, they don’t know how they will go on.

“Do we let people that either don’t get it or don’t understand or hate stop us? Or do we keep going?” Costello said Monday morning. “It just really was deflating.”

“It makes it really hard to feel like there’s a good way forward,” Stevens said.

Sometime late Thursday or Friday morning, a thief broke into an empty store adjacent to Black Sheep in a small strip mall on Steele Street, just north of the mall. The person accessed a crawl space, cut a hole in an adjoining wall and then came down through the ceiling into the unoccupied clothing store.

That person opened a door to possibly allow accomplices to enter. They disabled a blaring alarm and security cameras then ransacked the store, stealing $5,000 worth of merchandise, cash and photography equipment.

Safe Space

The space is more than just a business, Costello said.

“It’s self-expression and sustainability and just things that I value and I think other people value, too,” she said. “We want it to be more than just let’s make money off of clothes.”

Both women are members of the LGBTQ community as are their three employees, they said. Pride flags are displayed throughout the store.

A comfortable seating area with chairs and a couch hold down one corner. In its short time being open, the store was becoming an unofficial drop-in center for queer youth, the women said.

“We’ve had kids come in and just be and hang,” Stevens said. “This is a place that they can feel comfortable.”

Tacoma’s Oasis Youth Center serves LGBTQ youth, but it’s located downtown.

“We need more safe spaces on this side of town,” Stevens said.

A bad week

The same night as the break-in, Costello came outside her Stadium District apartment to find her car windows smashed. Earlier in the week, Stevens’ car was hit by gunfire as she was driving in the area of South Proctor and South 31st streets.

The store’s employees are out of jobs as Stevens and Costello assess security concerns and recover. The money they had was kept in a safe, which the thieves carried away. They considered giving up, but they have a two-year lease on the space.

The women have no evidence they were targets of a hate crime but know their LGBTQ visibility could make them more vulnerable to attacks.

“I think what we’re trying to do here is worthwhile,” Stevens said. “But it’s incredibly discouraging to have this kind of — whether or not it was motivated — to have this kind of thing happen so soon after (opening).”

Recently, a customer who brought in clothing to sell hurled anti-LGBTQ insults at store employees.

“This person just let loose with horrible, horrible words,” Stevens said. The customer was asked to leave.

The women didn’t get far with Tacoma police, who confirmed a police report had been made.

“I’m still mad,” Stevens said. “The police didn’t even send anybody. There was literal evidence that people had touched, that they could have maybe done something with.”

The thieves left behind a mallet they used to smash through ceilings and a wall. Tacoma police did not respond to requests for comment.

The women hope to have the store open again soon. First, they have mental obstacles to overcome.

“It seems worthwhile, you think you’re going in the right direction,” Stevens said. “And then something like this happens and you’re just like ...”

“Maybe we’re not doing the right thing ...,” Costello added in a moment of self-doubt.

“Maybe Tacoma is not ready,” Stevens said.