Two Ballard business owners said they are “not deterred” by recent crimes and decided to send a message to those responsible.

SEATTLE — A new business in Ballard is using social media to send a message that they will not be scared away from the neighborhood after being the target of a crime two weekends in a row.

Wonderland Gear Exchange, located at 7750 15th Avenue NW, is a consignment shop focused on outdoor recreation equipment. Owners Ben Mawhinney and Nate Seiberling said the first incident happened on Saturday, March 16.

"Pretty quickly realized that the glass of one of our windows was broken and some obvious items were missing," said Seiberling.

"We take this business so personally. It is a first-time venture for both of us. So, it is akin to having your home broken into," said Mawhinney.

Mawhinney said high-end gear was taken from the shop and filed a police report. He also decided to take a picture of the store and post a message on social media.

"We posted on social media that we were closed and that we were doing some cleaning up," Mawhinney explained.

What came next was an outpouring of support, including encouraging and empathetic comments from businesses who said it has happened to them before too.

While Mawhinney and Seiberling were working to bounce back, they discovered on March 26, that it had happened again. A window had been smashed and a door damaged, but thanks to security upgrades, it appears no one got into the store and nothing was taken.

"When the second one happened, it is like, well now we can get tongue and cheek with it," Mawhinney said.

Mawhinney went back to social media with the message, 'No need to break in. Our sale starts next week.' The end-of-season sale starts on March 30.

"So, it is also a fun way to kind of tell our customers we are having a sale next week," said Mawhinney.

Bold letters on the store’s boarded up windows now advertise the message.