Stephanie Morgan, who has directed Stephanie’s SE21 in Dulwich, to southern London since July 2021, estimates that she has lost thousands of pounds thanks to “constant” robberies.
The mother of one says that the thieves have repeatedly destroyed their coffee, stole their furniture, drinks and food, and also simply “emptied” their articles of dependence on the freezer discarded on the floor so that they can no longer use them.
On one occasion, Ms. Morgan was a coil or 100 Magnum ice cream, in an incident that described as “stupid” and “washing machine.”
Since then, the business owner has installed new security systems to avoid thieves, but the thesis has not been cheap.
And now, she is worried about the future of coffee if continuous robberies, as well as what impact she will have on the local community.
Ms. Morgan, 44, said: “We had many robberies when we opened for the first time, but then abandoned.
“But recently, we have attacked once on January 24, three times in February, and then again on March 31.
“It’s constant. It’s very discouraging.
“Things enter and destroy. They take the drinks of the refrigerators, then break the storage areas.
“They will steal tools from the shed and take out articles from the freezer just to throw them to the floor.
“In one of the robberies, we had 100 magnums.
“They have no value. You can’t sell them. You can’t eat them all.
“It’s simply stupid. And it is washed.”
Ms. Morgan has invested in a new security system that CCTV has and alerts the police every time there is a sign of a break, but the price has been.
This occurs when it is forking money for repairs and replacements, and paying your staff for the additional hours dedicated to cleaning refrigerators and “feeding furniture to fences” to avoid further robberies.
He has also lost income after reluctantly stopped serving alcohol (waiting in private events), since this action was a particular objective.
Ms. Morgan said: “I have resolved that I am paying £ 18,000 per year only in salaries due to additional security tasks that I had to ask my staff to do.
“And it is not as if it were a particularly profitable business in the first place.
“If it were there, a community center would not bother me anymore.”
Ms. Morgan built coffee in April 2021, transforming a parking lot abandoned by Belair Park into a beloved community place.
“There were many people in the area all the time as they walked to their dogs, but nobody really talked in addition to a quick” hello “when they passed.
“But now, it is a beautiful community space.
“The dog walkers are here in the middle of winter. We have ‘group of potholes and babies’ on Monday, and Crochet Club on Wednesday.
“On Friday in the summer we organize Karaoke nights, and people have birthday parties here.
“In addition, at the end of this month, on April 30, we are starting a scheme in which we welcome local autistic students to help in coffee.
“So it’s really a love project.”
The robberies have also hit Morgan Little Hard while initially built coffee for his father, who sadly died of cancer in 2023.
She said: “I build coffee for my dad, since I needed a distraction when I could see it for a year.
“The All-Clean was given when we open coffee on July 4, 2021, but unfortunately died two years later.
“So it seems really sad that there are people who destroy it.
“I am worried about keeping the business underway now.
“There is all financial loss, and also stress.
“And it is discouraging to continue bringing things that will be destroyed.
“Hopefully the new security helps.”
Ms. Morgan also directs a juice business called Raw and Juicy.
You can find more about your coffee, Stephanie’s Se21, on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stephanies_se21/?hl=en
