In the past year, Sinderellas Adult Gift Shop, Hemp Health and Miss Vintage Lighting owners — all of them on Dee St — have had to replace their stores’ windows due to wilful damage.
The most recent incident happened last weekend.
Hemp Health owner Paul Wright was woken by police at 4am on Sunday after his window had been smashed by a member of the public.
"I was very surprised because I thought something had happened to my son ... It was scary, but the police were good and waited for me to arrive to secure the building ... the whole situation is frustrating," Mr Wright said.
The business owners believed the damage was caused by intoxicated patrons coming from neighbouring pubs.
Miss Vintage owner Anne-Maree Thomas said she also had to go to her store in the middle of the night last year after police called her.
It was stressful to worry about those kinds of things at the moment, she said, as the pandemic made it a very challenging time for businesses.
"At least the kid who smashed my window fronted up and paid for the costs. He was at the pub where he had too much to drink and after being kicked out from there, he was assaulted in front of my store. I was lucky because I think my case was a good kid who had too much to drink."
She said bar owners needed to address the matter.
"They seem to kick people out when they are intoxicated but outside the door, it is not their problem."
The same frustration was shared by Sinderellas Adult Gift Shop owner Vanessa Scully.
"Usually, when we arrive here on Monday, after the weekend our doors are filled with glass bottles ... It is disgusting."
A police spokeswoman said police received a couple of reports of wilful damage in the area in the past month.
The most recent was reported at a commercial premises on Sunday morning when a store window was smashed.
"Police spoke with the person involved and reparation is being sought for the broken window."
ILT chief executive Chris Ramsay was asked for comment as one of ILT’s establishments was mentioned by the businesses owners. He believed it was unfair to blame patrons from premises managed by the trust.
"It is not reasonable or fair to assume that people who are in the inner city and causing problems, whether is due to intoxication or due to other reasons, have got that way in an ILT premises, because it is a well-known fact that since Covid-19 hit there was a massive shift towards drinking at home."
He said the dynamics of the Invercargill CBD had changed with The Grand Hotel no longer being used as a hotel or short-term accommodation.
"It is fair to assume that we do everything we should," Mr Ramsay said.
