Glass stores try to keep up with chaos

Thursday morning was chaotic, to say the least, for Cherry Creek Glass business owner Loren Dodge.

Vandals broke windows from more than 50 vehicles, businesses and homes, amounting to over $30,000 in damage.

“It definitely picked things up a little bit, and actually made things hectic,” Dodge said. “We had the regular things that were scheduled and then we had to try to fit the others in – it makes life interesting.”

Banks, casinos, restaurants, car dealerships, retail stores and other businesses around Libby urgently needed their broken windows replaced Thursday morning, and Cherry Creek Glass is Libby’s only store that installs commercial and house windows.

Meanwhile, vehicle owners only had two businesses in town to replace their windows – Cherry Creek Glass and Western Windshields.

Western Windshields reported taking a few related calls on Thursday, but “not a huge spike.” One obstacle for both businesses was that some of the vehicle windows and their parts were not in stock or readily available.  

“A lot of the parts for replacement were parts that weren’t that available,” Dodge said. “It wasn’t anything real convenient for anybody. I had to utilize a lot of my resources to get everybody taken care of.”

Dodge has on more than one occasion in his 20 years as a business owner been the victim of window vandals.

“I’ve actually been on the receiving end of it four times since I’ve been in business,” he said. “I don’t know if it’s the same kids, but they’ve been at it for a while and need to get caught.”