Lulabelle’s Sweet Shop on Upshur Street NW got broken into and burgled for the second time in two weeks on Sunday night. Thieves made off with the iPad for Lulabelle’s point of sale system and the cash register drawer, though they didn’t touch anything else inside, says Lulabelle owner Julie Wineinger, who also owns nearby Willow.

The sweet shop’s large, antique yellow door was damaged beyond repair in the latest burglary, Wineinger says.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BwAI8lFha6c/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

Though it’s normally closed on Mondays, the shop will be open today from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. to raise some extra money to replace the broken door.

Shortly after she opened up shop Monday afternoon, Wineinger says that the store was already starting to get busy with people from the neighborhood who’d heard about the burglaries and wanted to help. “The neighborhood has been really awesome and super supportive. We had people lined up at three on the dot to come and support,” she says.

The first time thieves broke in, they smashed the glass pane in the sweet shop’s large yellow door, then reached inside to unlock it, Wineinger says. That time, they only made off with the cash register drawer.

In the second incident, thieves smashed more glass to get around the wood panels that had been put up as an interim fix, Wineinger says. They apparently had more trouble reaching around this time,  and chipped some of the wood in the door to unlock it. The antique door is likely no longer salvageable, says Wineinger, who adds that the store will likely be replacing it with a regular door from here on out. “I think we were a bit of an easy target because of the door,” she says.

The sweet shop will also be installing cameras, which Wineinger says they were already planning to do before the break-ins happened anyway. “I really don’t want to put up a security gate, because it just doesn’t seem appropriate for a neighborhood ice cream shop,” she says.

She says that Willow, which has been open nearby for eight years, has never had a problem with break-ins, and she’s not concerned about a recurring pattern as long as she gets a more secure door.