In late January, famed restaurant In-N-Out announced they would be closing their only location in Oakland, CA, in March due to massive problems with crime in the area. Joining other large retailers like Walgreens and CVS, as well as small Mom & Pop shops, they couldn’t take the mounting losses despite it being a popular location.
Suddenly on January 31st, a 54-year-old Denny’s location joined them in shutting their doors.
First reported by KTVU, the restaurant has been experiencing a tremendous surge in break-ins, robbery incidents, and violent criminal activity. For customers who arrived at the store on its final day, they were largely surprised by the news.
Aloy Ekane was working for GrubHub when he showed up to learn they were closing the doors for good. “I feel so bad for Oakland because it’s like everybody’s leaving…Oh yeah, I eat here all the time, sometimes [at] midnight. I come here and eat because [in the] last few years, it was quite good. Just a good place. I feel so bad that they’re leaving, you know?”
For Jeff Lee, the closing is a bit more personal as he meets his mother and brother there every Wednesday to enjoy some of their Grand Slam deals. “Terrible that Oakland’s like this. This is probably the oldest business on the block, and it’s closing down. It’s sad. I’m proud of the Bay, born and raised. It’s sad because when I was out of state, I was proud [of] where I’m from…now, I just shake my head because of all the crime going on.”
Sentiments like the ones from Ekane and Lee were echoed by countless other diners who turned up to eat. Sadly enough, though, the residents of Oakland cannot blame anyone but themselves. Decades of voting blue have solidified the liberal laws that allow violent criminals to get booked, given a ticket, and released within hours, and that’s only if the cops want to bother with booking them.
Hard to keep selling $5.99 breakfast combos when your customers keep having $59,000 cars stolen right outside.
