Downtown Birmingham stores may not reopen after violent protest

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WBMA) — This day has been one of cleanup and recovery for the 26 commercial buildings damaged or burglarized by violent protesters in Downtown Birmingham.

Managers of Tech Loft, a smart phone and device repair company, said 30 to 40 protesters broke into their store Sunday night. The violent group ransacked the building before igniting a bottle of lighter fluid.

According Austin Snider, who operates Tech Loft's downtown location, 20 computers and 20 devices (cell phones/tablets) were damaged or stolen.

Now, the repair company is calling customers to inform them if their device survived the riot.

"We are pretty new already. We haven't been doing well with the virus stuff. Just trying to hold down there, and this happened...which will pull a good bit of money out of us. It will be hard to hold on," Snider told ABC 33/40 Monday.

After the riot, Tech Loft is unsure if they will reopen their Downtown Birmingham location. The company also has a location in Hoover.

The California Fashion Mall is another commercial building that received fire damage during the nasty protest. The entire ground floor went up in flames.

David Kim, who opened the fashion mall 40 years ago, said most of the $200,000 worth of merchandise inside the store was ruined.

Kim is also unsure if he will reopen his downtown business.

Volunteers helped board up windows at numerous damaged downtown buildings Monday.