People are rallying to support Footscray’s 8bit burger restaurant after its windows were smashed for the second time in a week in what some have speculated is a “class war” against hipsters and gentrification.
Early on New Year’s Day, vandals scrawled “F… off hipster scum” on the front of the Droop Street store and smashed 16 windows, causing damage valued at $8000.
About 2am last Saturday, a man and a woman smashed six windows, including the glass automatic door, with a rock. Police attended, but the pair had fled.
8bit co-owner Shayne McCallum said he believed the same pair were responsible for both attacks on his restaurant, but that he was at loss as to why.
“I don’t even consider our business being hipster,” he said.
“We just brought a food outlet to an area that didn’t have that type of food.
“Why wouldn’t you want a burger place here?
“I found out after all this that I don’t know the definition of a hipster.
“In my mind, it’s kids in Smith Street wearing skinny jeans and big beards and hats that I wouldn’t wear.”
He said the business would get roller shutters to prevent any more damage.
On the flipside, Mr McCallum said the community had responded with an outpouring of support.
“They’re like texting me, or people I don’t even know doing Facebook messenger, saying, ‘We visited the area, we love it, we’re coming for lunch just to support’ and ‘hopefully it will pay for the windows’,” he said.
One woman posted on Facebook that people should be glad a multinational chain restaurant had not opened up.
“Footscray’s face will change, that’s inevitable,” she said. “What its face will be is not going to be controlled by these violent halfwits.
“Targeting local business is the dumbest thing I’ve seen all year.”
