Sewell Sweets' Window Damage

Hi Everyone! We're Chad and Cat Sewell and we own Sewell Sweets in Downtown Salem. We are a husband and wife team who work endless hours in our new shop trying to make our dream a success while bringing some sweet happiness to our fellow community members! We are just 9 short months in to this storefront journey!

Unfortunately, on Saturday, August 19th, just after 11:30 pm, our storefront was severely damaged by a neighboring bar's bar fight. A person involved in the bar and the fight came through our window, causing the entire floor to ceiling window to break, floor damage, wall damage, all 3 of our tables and all 7 of our chairs to be ruined by thousands of glass shards and body weight impact, as well as damage to our built in seating bar and support column, and a lot of blood to clean up. We lost a day of business on Sunday the 20th as we had to be closed to deal with the mess, as well as all the labor and product we had paid for and made on Saturday in preparation for Sunday sales being wasted and thrown out. We have spent countless hours on the phone with insurance, gathering quotes for the fixes needed, and legal aid.

As a small, family run business, this is our only source of income. We have employees to keep paid, lights to keep on, and a business reputation to uphold. We're financially terrified. With being so new, we do not have the reserves to front the costs that this damage will entail. Insurance will help us, but it will take a long time and many costs will not be covered. We have immediate needs that we need immediate financial help with. At this time, we are opening back up on Wednesday, the 23rd, at limited capacity from losing our prep days, and with no indoor seating furniture/area due to the damage.

This fundraiser will help us cover the upfront costs associated with fixing the window, floors, column, wall, and replacing tables and chairs, as well as keep our employees paid.

Asking for this help is not easy, but we are beyond grateful to have a supportive community that is asking us how they can help. This is how! We can not begin to express the stress we feel while simultaneously feeling an amazing out poor of love and support. Thank you all for cheering us on, we hope you can help us as you're able to with this fundraiser and with future continued business support in our shop!