INDIANAPOLIS (WTHR) - The owner of a downtown barbershop hopes to get back on his feet one haircut at a time.
DR Barber Salon on E. Ohio Street got hit hard by vandals who turned peaceful protests into mayhem. What's worse is vandals targeted the shop not just once, but twice.
Someone called owner Derrick Richardson during the first round of vandalism. Richardson told 13News that he started to rush downtown, but decided it was safer not to due to all the unrest happening. It happened after a full day of successful peace protest. But incident after incident occurred once agitators begin to break windows downtown and spray graffiti on buildings and landmarks.
“Once I came downtown on Saturday to check out the shop, that’s when I saw in person that it had been vandalized," Richardson said.
Monday afternoon, Richardson took 13News inside his boarded-up barber salon. When the pastor at ITOWN Church learned about the vandalism, community activist Antonio Patton connected him with Richardson. After scheduling a haircut and paying a visit to DR Barber Salon, the pastor surprised Richardson with a $10,000 donation toward repairs. The huge picture window is scheduled for installation in the next two to three weeks.
Now Richardson hopes to regain customers as he reopens using safety and social distancing practices. He had already suffered significant financial loss being shut down by the pandemic.
“Entrepreneurship, it is a struggle,” said Richardson. “You take a leap of faith and always hope for the best. But sometimes the worst things happen. But I hope that we all can come, black and white, and be a force."
Richardson plans to reopen Tuesday. Some customers have already visited his website to schedule an appointment. But Richardson has concerns it may take months to bounce back from the shutdown.