Uptown boutique shop owner sounds off on rash of break-ins

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Thieves recently hit an uptown Albuquerque boutique shop for the third time since it opened three weeks ago.

Groove Boutique just had its grand opening a few days ago. Now, they’re dealing with something owner Leticia Leyba says is a familiar sight.

“It’s really frustrating. We’ve tried almost everything that we can do, besides getting security blinds to go over, you know, with us being a higher-end store. I really don’t want to have to put metal all around my building,” Leyba said.

She says thieves once stole $2,300 worth of high-end clothing from her store, near Coronado Mall. Then, recently, she says five people walked up to the window and helped themselves to $5,300 worth of merchandise.

Leyba says she built the business from the ground up – 100% out of her own pocket.

“I worked extremely hard to make my dream come true. If I would have known it was going to happen, I probably would have never done it, to be honest,” she said, regarding the break-ins.

However, the problems started even before she received the keys to her storefront.

“We had a lady drive through the storefront. It completely took out the door and the side windows,” Leyba explained.

Leyba says she and other business owners are fed up. They say they will take their frustrations to the Albuquerque City Council to ask them for more safety measures for small business owners.

“No one’s doing anything about it. No one’s listening,” Leyba expressed.

After meeting with the Albuquerque Police Department, Leyba said cameras tied to the Real-Time Crime Center will be installed near the area.