After 2 break-ins in 1 week, a SE Portland board-game store basks in community support, plans to rebuild

First came the break-ins, which occurred twice in a week at Red Castle Games, a board game and trading card store located in the Foster-Powell district of Southeast Portland.

Matthew Mi eti, the store owner, described the break-ins as a stomach strike.

Following that, there was a flurry of online and in-person community support, culminating in a visit from a quartet from a barbershop, one of whom is a regular client. They played a cover of the Randy Newman hit song “You’ve Got a Friend in Me” to surprise Mi eti.

Mi eti claimed that the break-ins at his store, which has been a mainstay of the area for nearly 15 years, were the most recent in a series of burglaries that began last week when burglars drilled through a deadbolt on February 10 and then did the same to a replacement deadbolt two days later. He stated that this has caused his insurance premiums to soar and that it probably won’t pay for all of the damages.

According to Mi eti, stores like his are a prime target for criminals because they frequently carry valuable trading cards that are simple to resell online. Between the physical damage to the store and the lost merchandise, which included rare Magic the Gathering and Pokemon trade cards, he calculated that the most recent break-ins cost him almost $50,000.

It’s unclear if the cards will be replaced because they are no longer wholesale and would have to be carefully sourced from the secondary market, he said.

Over the years, he has made investments in a number of security measures, such as security cameras, but he claimed that criminals have become more creative.

More than $30,000 has been raised by the AGoFundMe campaign to aid in the store’s recovery. The funds will be used to install roll-down, locking security shutters on his doors, including the one that leads to an interior storehouse, according to Mi Eti. If he has the funds, he will also erect security shutters on the store’s windows and hire muralists to paint scenes from board games on the exterior.

The warm greetings, the wonderful financial donations, and the folks who have stopped by to say hello, purchase a puzzle, or make a purchase at the cafe have been overwhelming, Mi eti remarked. There are so many ways that folks show us that they care that I’m not even sure how to thank them.

For The Oregonian, Julia Silverman writes about K–12 education. You can email her at [email protected].