A family-owned business in Dallas has closed its doors for good, two months after a tornado ripped through North Texas. Clean up efforts are still underway.
Michael McDonald says Christmas was supposed to be their busiest day. Now, he’s lost employees and his business.
Inside Central Jewelry and Loan are mounds of rubble and debris.
What wasn’t destroyed by the tornado, was taken by looters, Michael says.
Thieves took off with lower end watches, and targeted high-end items next.
“We have three safes. They tried to get into one safe. They tore it up and didn’t get into it. Of course, it was empty. We opened up the safe to let them know there’s nothing inside,” says McDonald.
With no plans to rebuild, McDonald was forced to make a tough decision.
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“The bad thing is you have to lay off employees right before Christmas. And the Christmas rush is when you make most of your money. We didn’t have a Christmas rush because it was shut down. It’s pretty devastating,” says McDonald.
He’s been at the store daily, salvaging what he could, but there’s no chance to re-open.
The family has another store on North Buckner Boulevard, but says they have lost a lot of customers who go to this location.
The Northwest Dallas Business Association says businesses affected by the tornado can reach out to them for guidance and resources to try to recover.
