SLC streetwear and sneaker shop seeks help after devastating burglary
May 16, 2022, 10:11 PM | Updated: Jun 10, 2022, 10:52 pm
SALT LAKE CITY — After a devastating recent burglary, the owner of a streetwear and sneaker store is pleading for help to stay open and to catch those responsible.
Austin Tate said around 11:30 p.m. on May 1, a surveillance camera captured two burglars breaking the glass front door and entering Eastside Hype at City Creek Center.
“Not only did they take the clothes, but they took money we had for our consigners that was put away — which we only take 10%, so do the math — and then a cashier’s check for a good sum of money, and then our cash deposits for Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday,” Tate said. “We don’t even have enough inventory to make the amount of money we need to make to support our employees and our costs of everything.”
Tate said the mom-and-pop business had to shut its doors for multiple days to restock and reopen. It was open on Monday afternoon, though Tate admitted the store still looked thinned-out compared to how it usually appears.
Though it was the first time at City Creek, the burglary apparently wasn’t the first for Eastside Hype — which had been located, up until December, on 200 South near 300 West.
“We had a string of break-ins at our last place — like three of them in I think 10 days,” Tate said of the crimes, which happened last year.
Tate said he believed the same suspects may be responsible for all the heists, in part because the disguises looked somewhat similar. In the latest burglary, he said they likely would have had to walk several hundred feet from the street and bypass numerous other stores to target his.
It was a major blow for the shop, which was the brainchild of Tate as he turned around his life.
“I was incarcerated for a few years, got out in 2017. (I’ve) been through addiction and all that stuff and I had this idea,” Tate said. “I went to Los Angeles and saw the culture around Fairfax and Melrose and all the people gravitated toward that and I was obviously infatuated with it. Out here, if you’re into that kind of stuff, you have to travel to stuff, and I just kind of wanted to create an outlet for creatives and influencers and fashion enthusiasts — people who were into that sort of thing.”
Tate said the move to City Creek has been great and it has been amazing to see his idea for a store placed next to the national brands around it.
“It’s been awesome, really,” he smiled.
He said he just wasn’t sure how to make ends meet in the short term between employee wages, repairs and making good for those who were offering products at his store through consignment. Tate set up a GoFundMe account* in hopes the community would continue to help support the store through a difficult time.
“What can you do?” he shrugged. “It’s stressful because I don’t know if we’re going to lose this place or whatever it is, you know what I mean? I’m hoping for the best, obviously.”
Anybody with information about the recent theft or the earlier ones targeting Eastside Hype at its previous location was asked to contact Salt Lake City police at 801-799-3000.
*KSL TV does not assure that the money deposited to the account will be applied for the benefit of the persons named as beneficiaries. If you are considering a deposit to the account, you should consult your own advisors and otherwise proceed at your own risk.
