Dec. 20, 2022

Two reasons made Hayder Hayyawi and Reem Alsulaimawi decide against closing Neighborhood Market and Sahara Grill & Cuisine, their 10-month-old business on East 10th Street.

In the aftermath of a burglary and vandalism that destroyed much of their inventory, left the till gaping open, ruined the point-of-sale system that operated the store’s gas pumps and left them fearing for their safety, they vowed to abandon the east-side location.

But in the days that followed, though still disturbed by what happened, they changed their minds. As of last week, Neighborhood Market is open for business again, although some shelves remain bare. The couple has closed the restaurant temporarily, and the gas pumps are inoperable until a temporary point-of-sale system can be obtained.

Business is slow, however, but Hayyawi and Alsulaimawi are convinced their customers will return. Those customers are one of the reasons they decided to reopen in the same location.

“We didn’t want to close because we had a lot of customers that cared about us, cared about the store, that would not find the products that we have in any other stores, or they would have to travel to other nearby stores,” Alsulaimawi said.

The second reason is more personal.

“We wanted to do it for ourselves, we want to keep our heads up, not let what happen scare us and just close the store because of bad people,” Alsulaimawi said. “We wanted to keep going as much as we could.”

The burglary happened after 10 p.m. Dec. 7. Hayyawi and Alsulaimawi had closed their store and shut off the lights, but they remained in the restaurant kitchen to the rear, cleaning up. When they heard the breaking glass from the front door, they took refuge in the restaurant’s walk-in cooler. Huddled inside, they called the police and family members.

When they emerged from the freezer, they discovered that the glass on both front doors had been shattered. The intruder or intruders swept food items from the shelves, took money from the till, broke security cameras and destroyed the computer that operated the gas pumps’ point-of-sale system.

The market had opened early this year, followed by the restaurant this fall. The restaurant serves Middle Eastern foods such as falafel, kebab, shawarma and dolma.

Hayyawi also owns and operates several other businesses, including a used-car lot next to Neighborhood Market. They are working on opening a west-side grocery store in the 49th Street and Western Avenue area next year. When they considered abandoning the east-side location, the second store would have become the new center of operation.

Since its opening, Neighborhood Market had been vandalized twice, and there was an incident when Hayyawi was threatened subtly with a gun and Alsulaimawi had feared for her personal safety.

When word of the Dec. 7 burglary and vandalism spread, local residents showed up to help Hayyawi, Alsulaimawi and their family clean up. The support surprised and strengthened the young couple.

“We’re really grateful for that. I can’t really put it into words,” Alsulaimawi said. “Everyone that donated, those who showed up, handing us envelopes of money to help us out, tears on their faces, we weren’t expecting that much support. We’re really grateful for all of you guys.”

A GoFundMe campaign has raised almost $15,000.

Restocking the shelves might take up to a month. Supplies come from Chicago and California, and weather issues may delay delivery, Alsulaimawi said. A new point-of-sale system is expected to take six months before installation and will cost about $30,000. The company has promised to install a temporary system that will enable gas sales again.

Remodeling of the restaurant space will take place while it is closed.

“We decided we might as well do it now since we’re putting all of the focus on the grocery store and getting it back on its feet,” Alsulaimawi said.

As word of the store’s reopening spreads, she hopes old customers will return. “We’re getting a lot of well-wishing cards and support from our customers, but not all of them are shopping yet,” she said. “It takes time, especially with the weather. It may take up to a month.”

Regaining a sense of security also will take time. Alsulaimawi is reluctant to be in the store alone, and Hayyawi, a native of Iran who has lived in Sioux Falls for 10 years, continues to feel the stress.

“It’s been a lot for him,” Alsulaimawi said. “This is my first time seeing him worried and not being about to do anything about the store. In one hour, he was seeing everything destroyed in front of him.”

Mediterranean market, restaurant heavily damaged in vandalism