Break-in at The Wooden Shoe at Gull Lake destroys front entrance

Around 5 am on Tuesday, January 7th, 2020, thieves targeted The Wooden Shoe out at Gull Lake, smashing through the front entrance to gain entry to the family-owned business. 

According to a Facebook post from The Wooden Shoe, they said they are "Saddened by this morning's break-in. We still remain open. If anyone has any information or has seen anything. Please call RCMP."

Owner of the Wooden Shoe Val Vanaken, who runs the store alongside her sister Christy, are not letting this minor setback get them down.

"My sister Christy and I are pretty resilient, and we're going to keep open as much as possible, as we're taking as much preventative measures possible to deter them."

Vanaken says they are more than a little annoyed by what happened, saying in the 13 years they've been in business, they've never seen someone so motivated to break in that they did this much damage.

But they are not going to be bothered or intimidated by ignorant people who steal from others.

"Get a life, get a job. Right? Like, we're working our a**'s off to stay open... like we stayed open while we fixed up the mess they made. We're going to keep going as much as possible, whatever they do to us, we're going to keep going."

They also said it appears the thieves stole cigarettes. 

Blackfalds RCMP are currently investigating.