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“I can’t replace everything again,” said Amy Polasek, 28, who owns Epic Games and More. “I don’t feel safe in this location.”
The front door of the 2523 Laurent Street store was smashed. Inside, cards, game pieces, mud and glass littered the floor. More than $6,000 worth of game consoles, collectors’ cards, movies and merchandise was stolen, Polasek said.
The burglary was the second for Epic this year.
“This store is thriving, but I can’t take another break-in,” she said.
When Polasek opened the store in October, she didn’t just want a business. Polasek and her husband, J.T., enjoy gaming and wanted to create a community – somewhere people could play games and have fun.
Customers say the Polaseks succeeded, and that makes the crime particularly upsetting.
“This acts like the hub for gaming,” said Griffin Milberger, 24. Milberger and more than a dozen other customers played Dungeons and Dragons at the store Monday afternoon.
Joshua Eric Miles, 21, felt so at home in Epic he left cards and figures there. They were stolen in the burglary, he said.
“I trusted that they were going to be OK here,” he said.
Regulars gather at the store to teach each other games and socialize, 21-year-old Benjamin Mooney said.
Customers said the burglary was malicious. Boxes were needlessly overturned. The place was a mess.
“I feel really betrayed,” Miles said.
The police officer investigating the break-in was not available for comment Monday.
Polasek likely will not renew her lease next month, she said. But her customers nurse a hope that she’ll move the shop somewhere else.
“I don’t know why anyone would want to hurt them,” said 16-year-old Chris Mumphord. “Hopefully, they’ll just relocate to a place with more security.”