Chicago board-up companies busy after protests, but as one owner says, ‘I don’t want to get business this way’

Some Chicago board-up companies are the busiest they’ve ever been. But the owners — who are used to dealing with customers traumatized by fires and natural disasters — say they’re exhausted and heartsick over the unrest and property damage that’s making them in demand.

“I’ve always wanted my phones to ring, but not this way. I have people crying,” said Jannette Rodriguez, who’s been answering phones at A Quality Board-Up & Emergency Services, 5060 W. Diversey Ave. “I have people calling from out of state because they left to care for their relatives because of COVID. They’re calling me saying ‘Board [my business] up. I’m not going to risk my workers’ lives.’”

The company, founded by her husband Wilson Gonzalez, has received more than 350 calls since Saturday night, she said. Most were requests for covering windows with plywood before any property damage happened. Then, at 3 a.m. Tuesday, Rodriguez said, “I started getting the Naperville calls.”

“It’s heartbreaking for the city of Chicago,” said Calvin Johnson, founder of the Maywood board-up company Fire Chaser USA, who said he’s been getting three or four hours of sleep a night. City and suburban customers are asking him to spray-paint “Black Lives Matter” on the plywood he’s using to cover their windows. He said business owners want to show they condemn police brutality and the killing of George Floyd, who died after being kneed in the neck during an arrest by Minneapolis police. “It shows that they believe in the movement, it shows we’re with you,” he said.

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“We feel bad for the people and what they are going through. I don’t want to get business this way,” said Tyree Rhodes, owner of Rapid Board Up, which has locations at 3421 W. Armitage Ave. and 9500 S. State St. He said he’s been boarding up North Side businesses after vandalism and doing preemptive work too.

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“We have not slept since Friday night,” Rodriguez said. “We’ve never lived this. We’ve never seen this.”

Phones are ringing nonstop, “All night long for the past three days,” said Cedric Smith, owner of A Board Up Only, 3473 S. King Drive, who’s mostly working on the South Side. It’s the busiest he’s been in the 18 years since he founded the company.

“We’ve been working for three days. I just made it home,” said Rhodes, who said he planned to “take a hot bath, get some rest, let the guys go home to their families.”

Crews were working 24-hour shifts with four-hour breaks at Express Board Up & Glass Services, 3801 W. North Ave. “The demand is completely insane at the moment,” said Delilah Rosario, who was answering phones.

Calls to some Chicago board-up companies are hearing messages like this: “This mailbox is full and is no longer accepting new messages.”