A West Auckland restaurant that's been serving customers for nearly a century is facing an uncertain future after being burgled for the fourth time in 14 months.
Toby's Restaurant in Titirangi was robbed on Monday morning, with the thieves making off with around 50 bottles of alcohol in a laundry basket.
The group also kicked the beer tap and let the kegs run dry.
Co-owner Mike Simpkins told Seven Sharp the latest break-in came after years of hardship following the Covid-19 pandemic and staffing shortages.
"This on top just makes things really difficult," he said.
The building had been "an empty shell for a year" when they got it "back up and running" two years ago, he said.
Simpkins said he got the call about the robbery at 5.30am on Monday.
"You just shake your head. It’s a tough time all around for our staff emotionally and financially, it’s a tough time of year for us.
"Just to know more money down the toilet, have to make these repairs, gotta get things back up and going again. It’s devastating – it really is."
He said the thefts and damage caused was "in excess of a couple of thousand dollars".
"That’s profit from 144 meals that we’re going to have to serve just to get back to an even spot before these terrorists broke in and took stuff that wasn’t theirs," he said.
Despite the devastating news, Simpkins said the community response has been "outstanding".
"Titirangi is a lovely little, leafy little community and this stuff happening is just – you couldn’t have believed it. The community feels the same. The community are angry," he said.
"We just hope that they will come back in and support us through this really difficult phase."
He said while he considered closing up shop when he met with his business partner on Monday, the pair "decided we’re gonna try and look at the next couple of months".
"We’ve just managed to get a great new chef on board, we have a new menu coming out, we’re going to start a new brunch thing. We’re gonna give it a shot but if we get another hit, another swipe, we can’t keep doing it.
"We’ve thrown a lot of money at this project and at this stage, it’s not happening but … We hope for the next couple of months we’re gonna give it a go and see what happens."
With other businesses also facing break-ins, Simpkins urged the community to "just go and support local".
"Go in there, have another coffee, come in for a meal or go into your grocery shop," he said.
"We’re just a small little operation – we don’t want to have to close the doors and say goodbye to a dozen jobs and have an empty building again."
Simpkins also had a message for those responsible for the break-in.
"They really just need to understand that there’s consequences. Consequences mean that people are going to lose their jobs if they keep doing what they’re doing," he said.
"It’s just wrong and they need consequences when they get caught – and hopefully they do.
"We need to throw everything at them so they realise that actually, we’re real people that they’re really affecting."
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