Local Store Victim of Robbery

Burglars broke into Louie's Superette, the grocery and convenience store near Mather House, over Christmas break, and stole more than $2500 in cash and beer.

Susan Chin, who with her husband recently purchased the store, said the break-in occurred some time between the store's 11 p.m. closing on Saturday December 19 and 8 a.m. that Sunday morning when she and her husband returned to open up the store.

The store's safe had more money in it than usual, because the Chins could not make a weekend deposit. `They took away a safe we put money in because there is no bank we could take it to on Saturday," Chin said.

In addition to the $2500 in cash in the safe, the burglars took between 15 and 20 case of Budweiser and Michelob beer and some laundry detergent, Chin said.

"The only thing I can tell is that it was a bunch of young people, probably teen-agers because they only took certain things--beer, ham, candy bars, laundry detergent." Chin said.

Chin, who bought the store at the end of October, said she and her husband had not been robbed before, but the previous owner had told them it had happened a few times before.

Chin said the Cambridge Police told her the area, which is across Bank St. from Mather House, has always been a trouble spot.

Chin said she and her husband have ordered a new alarm system, but it had not yet been installed when the break-in took place. They said they also hope a community watch and increased Cambridge Police patrols will deter future robbers.

Louie's Superette has changed hands at least three times in the last five years. "It is not an easy store to run," Chin said. "It's a lot of work." She said the store orders merchandise in small quantities, which means that they have fewer discounts and higher prices than larger groceries, and consequently fewer customers.

The store draws many of its customers from the Harvard houses because it is the only package store along the River.