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Goshen Market owner Jerusalem Monday stands Monday in his shop on Lincoln Street in Lewiston after, he said, it was ransacked on Sunday morning. His store has been closed since December. Monday said he has no insurance because it is too expensive to pay for while the business is closed. In an approximately three-hour period after the store was broken into, an unknown number of people came and stole a large quantity of imported wigs, name-brand handbags and shoes, jewelry and damaged displays, Monday said. He’s received some of the items back from people who claimed they thought the goods were free for the taking, Monday said. (Libby Kamrowski Kenny/Staff Photographer)

LEWISTON — Yellow police tape blocked the entrance to Goshen Super Market this weekend after what the store’s owner described as a chaotic scene of looting left his business half empty. 

Jerusalem Monday, who was cleaning and rearranging products Monday at 179 Lincoln St., said that over about three hours Sunday morning people entered his store and took an estimated $300,000 in merchandise.

“I was at church and I got a call from my friend that people had opened my shop and unpacked all of my goods and told people it was free,” Monday said.  

The business, which opened in 2017, has been closed since December 2024, when the city condemned the building because of issues with the foundation. Monday said he is in the process of addressing the issues so he can reopen. He canceled the store’s insurance shortly after the building was condemned.

A look inside the business revealed empty shelves, toppled displays and wigs scattered across the floor — remnants of what Monday said was once a fully stocked inventory of jewelry, designer handbags, shoes, wigs and food items.

The ransacked Goshen Super Market at 179 Lincoln St. in Lewiston is seen Monday after a break-in Sunday morning, according to owner Jerusalem Monday. Owner Jerusalem Monday, who was cleaning and rearranging products Monday at 179 Lincoln St., said that over about three hours Sunday morning while he was at church people entered his store and took an estimated $300,000 in merchandise. (Libby Kamrowski Kenny/Staff Photographer)

“This place was full of stuff,” he said. “Some people have returned some of the stuff, but 99% of the highest-value goods are gone.

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“It makes me feel really bad,” he said. “It’s over hundreds of thousands of dollars. … So, I’m just pleading with the public to return my goods. Shipping from 14 countries is not easy and I just want people to understand that and do the right thing.”

Monday said he believes the majority of people who made off with his products were operating on bad information, and that he simply hopes they choose to return what they have taken. 

A pile of items recovered less than a day after being stolen from Goshen Supermarket Market on Lincoln Street in Lewiston are seen Monday after the store was ransacked on Sunday morning. Owner Jerusalem Monday filed a report with Lewiston police, who are actively investigating. Monday is asking that anyone who took items from his store to return them, as he believes most of the people involved thought the items were free for the taking. (Libby Kamrowski Kenny/Staff Photographer)

He said he is working with police to determine who initiated the incident and to get as much of his merchandise back as possible.

“We’re giving it some time,” Monday said. “We’ll be here for the whole week for people to bring what they have back.”

Police are asking those who have taken items from the store to return them anytime from noon to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday. Information about the incident can be shared with Detective Travis Fecteau at [email protected].

An emptied display case is seen Monday at Goshen Super Market at 179 Lincoln St. in Lewiston after the store was ransacked on Sunday, according to the owner Jerusalem Monday. He said over about three hours Sunday morning while he was at church people entered his store and took an estimated $300,000 in merchandise. (Libby Kamrowski Kenny/Staff Photographer)