A Calgary store owner says customers are avoiding his business because of disturbances caused by aggressive homeless people.
Hien Vu, the owner of Express Subs and Deli on 5 Avenue S.W., says last Friday a man smashed a bottle and threatened him, his wife and the customers in his restaurant.
“I was scared for my life and my wife. She didn’t know what to do; she just hid in a corner of the kitchen,” he said.
He believes the problem stems from a liquor store two doors down where he says people are lined up outside before that store’s opening at 10:00 a.m.
Vu says the staff there line up bags of beer for quick sale and those customers buy them up, drink it all through the day and often return to the area drunk and belligerent.
The liquor store isn’t doing anything illegal by selling the liquor in that fashion and the owners say they aren’t aware that any of their customers are causing problems elsewhere.
They told CTV that they don’t serve liquor to any aggressive people because they don’t want trouble with their neighbours.
Evan Woolley, the councillor for Ward 8, says he doesn’t want to see this happening in his area at all.
“This is not acceptable for businesses operating in any community,” he said. “You should care about the effects on your community, whether it is selling liquor or selling stamps.”
Meanwhile, Vu is concerned about the impact the issue is having on his restaurant.
He says they lost customers have resulted in him reducing hours and needing to lay off two people.
If the situation doesn’t improve, he says he is worried about the future of the store.
“We hope that the office workers feel safe around here but the incident last Friday, even with two or three gentlemen bystanders, they don’t even care. I don’t know how long I can be safe and how long I can keep this business and survive.”
If things don’t change, then Vu says he is considering moving his restaurant to another location several blocks away.
(With files from CTV Calgary’s Kevin Green)
