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Located on Rutherford Street NW Medicine Hat

Community supports store robbed just two months after opening

Jul 21, 2023 | 4:55 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB – A local convenience store became the target of a robbery, after opening shop just two months ago. While larger corporations can easily recover from robberies, smaller businesses can have a harder time.

New Heights Convenience store is owned by Harmanjeet Singh and his brother, after moving from India with a dream to own their own business.

“Experiencing that in the beginning, it was quite heartbreaking. It took almost half a day to clean the mess that was created,” said Singh.

Two masked people broke in about two weeks ago, taking around one thousand dollars in cash and ripping the ATM through the front door. While insurance covers the costs, Singh must still pay a deductible to the insurance company, and the store still has damages that need to be repaired.

Singh says he’s heard countless stories of small businesses being targeted, throwing a wrench in business operations. However, his store is recovering with helpful advice from old employers and friendly customers.

“When this happened, we got so many comments (from customers) regarding this. People wanted to donate as well, but I just told them, “no need to donate.” It’s just support, every single dollar worth of purchase in here means a lot to us.”

He added, “the neighborhood is very supportive and probably the best neighborhood that I’ve worked until now in Canada.”

Medicine Hat Police are still investigating the robbery.