OAKLAND, Calif. (KRON) — Another Oakland business is in jeopardy due to crime. The owner of a longtime downtown live music venue says robberies and crime are scaring away patrons and hurting profits. The business owner told KRON 4 he will likely have to close permanently.
Security camera footage of people breaking and entering has become a familiar sight to business owners across the Bay Area, especially in Oakland.
“They broke into every door. They were there for an hour,” Complex Oakland owner Oscar Edwards said.
Edwards said thieves broke into the 24,000-square-foot entertainment space and restaurant twice in February. In one case, Ms. Edwards was left with $40,000 in damages and losses.
“We have no idea where we’re going to be in the near future,” Edwards said.
He graduated from San Francisco State University and has been in business in Oakland for 15 years. The Southern California native said the people of Oakland have accepted him as one of their own and he doesn’t want to leave the city.
But he said there was only so much he could do.
It wasn’t until the pandemic hit and former Oakland Police Chief Rulon Armstrong was fired that Edwards said crime began to spiral out of control.
“In terms of staffing, you know, there’s a new $20 wage. And on top of that, there’s crime. There’s intruders. Everyone wants to be out of the house. So it becomes an almost impossible situation,” Edwards said.
Reluctantly, Edwards worries that his time in Oakland is coming to an end. He said it is impossible to sustain this business model anymore and there will be no help along the way.
“I’ve never seen a situation where the economy has been where it has been and the city isn’t supporting small businesses the way they should be,” he says.
Edwards said he feels the impact of the Raiders, Warriors and now the Athletics leaving Oakland.
He says fewer jobs means people have less money and are less likely to spend their money on businesses like his.
It’s all paving the way for what looks like an inevitable split with Oakland.
