An Oakland jewelry store on Saturday celebrated its reopening after a robbery back in September.
Aster Jewelers, an independent jewelry store on Mountain Boulevard in Montclair, held a celebration for the community at their reopened storefront.
On Sept. 14, store staff reported that the store had been robbed in the morning, while the store was open.
An Oakland Police Department spokesperson said that staff at the store reported being pepper-sprayed, and that multiple people entered the store armed with hammers.
“The individuals broke the display cases containing jewelry and took items from the business before leaving the area in a vehicle,” OPD said.
“Thankfully, while our team is shaken up, no one was seriously hurt,” the store wrote in a post on Instagram at the time. “We’ve got burning eyes from pepper spray, smashed cases, and stolen jewelry.”
Nearly two months later, owner Lindsay Ansley decided to host a party at the store to celebrate its reopening. The store rebuilt the jewelry cases and restocked them with pieces from local, independent artists.
“I think the biggest takeaway from the whole thing is just honestly gratitude for the community, I don’t think we would be here reopening – as excited as we are – if it weren’t for the neighbors that came and checked on us and helped with the cleanup,” Ansley said, adding that many of the artists whose jewelry is featured in the store showed up to help with the cleanup after the robbery as well.
“That is honestly what kept me going and focused on getting back to it, because that’s why I opened the store in the first place: the community of Oakland,” Ansley said. “It was just this silver lining of the entire thing to see how much support we had and really feel that.”