Tomboy Girl, 551 State St., a clothing store providing casual and fun wear, must relocate to an off-State Street location due to substantial damage caused by Halloween-related incidents.
Window damage and shards of glass in most of the clothing forced Tomboy Girl to close for two weeks, according to store manager Randi Drake.
\We lost our entire inventory. It devastated our business,"" Weldon said.
Tomboy Girl, after years as a successful web business, opened a store in 2001, providing merchandise inspired by a song written by co-owner and folk singer Tret Fure.
""We went to State Street because of the foot traffic. To me, it's the heart of Madison,"" said Jane Weldon, co-owner of Tomboy Girl.
Weldon said although the store is located on campus, the clientele is generally tourists, not UW-Madison students.
Although Weldon did not issue blame for these incidents, she expressed disappointment with the city of Madison's lack of response after the weekend.
She said she was not looking for reimbursement from the city but rather for acknowledgement.
""[The city has] done a really good job of providing lip service,"" said Don VanWart of clothing store Dick and Jane, 553 State St., whose store was also damaged on Halloween, leaving him with costs exceeding $8,000.
VanWart said he thought the city of Madison and the Madison police are hiding behind the fact that Halloween is not a city-sponsored event. He suggested to Ald. Mike Verveer, District 4, that the city sponsor it; the city did not reply.
VanWart said he thinks the city is reluctant to take action because they want to hide the actual costs of Halloween and down play the event so that it will become more of a family event in future years, which he calls ludicrous.
""Halloween has a direct cause and effect on at least one business and actually a lot [of businesses,]"" VanWart added.
Tomboy Girl is one such business that has been directly affected by the incidents surrounding Halloween and as a result was forced to move off of State Street.
After the unexpected closure of Tomboy Girl, Weldon said she was excited to move to the new location on the corner of Atwood Avenue and Ohio Avenue, and she hopes the store will be open by Dec. 5.
She added she is glad her business will not be on State Street next year for Halloween, because she said she doubts the city will take actions to improve the event.
