Regina beauty store owner stepping up security after break ins

Hanging inside the walls of Quance Street’s Bellezza Moda Beauty and Fashion in Regina is a plastic bag full of glass.

The pieces are from the first time the store was broken into in September of 2023.

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Owner Jasmine Paterson said she keeps them there as a “sick, twisted” reminder of the incident that devastated the store.

Jasmine Paterson says she keeps the pieces of glass from the 2023 break in as a reminder for herself. (Daniel Reech/980 CJME)

At 3 a.m. on Tuesday, Paterson woke up to an alarm notification saying the store had been broken into for a second time.

“You have that residual feeling, ‘Oh my gosh, not again,’” she said.

“Every time I hear my phone go off in the middle of the night, if it’s the alarm system, whether it just be a false alarm or something real like this, your heart just drops. You feel sick.”

Bellezza Moda offers jewelry, piercings, nails, accessories, art from local artists and hair tinsel. Paterson said she started her business out of her locker in high school as a means of paying for her university education, but it grew to the point where it became her full-time occupation.

Paterson said the 2023 break in cost the store about $60,000 in losses and damages, but strangely nothing was stolen the second time around.

“This time was really bizarre. Nothing was stolen, but it was done in our back room area. They came in from the back, which was a little bit unusual because that door is steel and would have been much more difficult to get into as opposed to the front, which is glass,” Paterson said.

Paterson said she doesn’t know just how much it would cost to repair the door, which was damaged in the most recent break in. (Daniel Reech/980 CJME)

“They didn’t proceed to the main area to steal anything,” Paterson said, calling the incident “really bizarre.”

Although nothing was taken during the second break in, Paterson said the incident served as a valuable lesson. She said Bellezza Moda will add more security features, such as a panic bar on the door, and has now installed another camera at its back door.

“We couldn’t see anything of what was going on back there, but in our video we could hear them breaking in and then trying to disarm the alarm panel,” she said.

Paterson said she doesn’t yet know how much it will cost to repair the door.

She said the suspect in the first incident was caught within three days thanks to footage from the camera at the front of the store, but she doubts police will be able to make any arrests in the most recent case due to the lack of a camera in the back.

Paterson said she feels that a lot of break ins stem from deeper issues in the city.

“I think a lot of these situations come from a place of need, whether it be need for fulfilling something that isn’t fulfilled otherwise in their lives,” she said.

“Whether that be addiction, or homelessness or whatever the case may be, it doesn’t make it any easier as a business owner, but you have to feel some sense of compassion for these people because nobody in their right mindset would steal from a small business – at least I’d like to think, optimistically.”

Bellezza Moda has two locations stores in Regina, one on Quance and another on Gordon Road. Paterson said she’s planning to open additional stores in Moose Jaw and Calgary as well.