09/22/2026
many of you know that we are a small business in downtown Belleville. It is a COMMUNITY focused thrift and gift store that caters to anyone and everyone that chooses to grace our door step. This is our situation: We take PRIDE in our merchandise selection, the way we treat our customers and the appearance of our store both inside and outside. Now, there are smokers that are on our volunteer staff. Not an issue ...18 months ago, I went and bought two smaller type car cup holder ashtrays: one for the front door area and one for the back door area. the placement of these was accessible but not readily noticeable. They were velcro'd to the building so that they could be secure enough during inclement weather to not blow away yet allow us to empty them on a daily basis. As I stated earlier, we take great pride in our environment and do our best to keep the front of our store looking presentable including not "tossing" or "flicking" the cigarette butts into the street or on the sidewalk. Well, about three weeks ago, someone decided to help themself to the ashtray out front...ok, we took the one from the back door and put it out front. Yesterday between 330 and 445 pm someone decided to help themselves to that one. Please don't get me wrong, this is not great grandmas inherited China we are talking about - the ashtrays cost less than 2 dollars apiece...the points I would like to make are 1.don' disrespect someone else's
environment by taking a functional piece of equipment that serves a purpose. 2. If it isn't yours, don't take it without asking...