By Jason Crane
Let’s face it, pursuing an American dream of owning your own business in many industries is getting tougher and these days proves no exception for many entrepreneurs!
Oswego entrepreneur Bob Lockwood felt the pain. He was let go twice as a manager of an indoor laser tag facility and a restaurant, both struggling because of the pandemic.
In an attempt to make lemonade out of lemons, he pursed his dream of operating a mobile video game and entertainment business. Unfortunately, when the 28-foot trailer was one of five burglarized, the dream hit a roadblock: The gated storage facility in Schaumburg where the trailer is stored doesn’t insure any of the content stored.
Seeking to make this year a little brighter for him and his family, Lockwood and his business partner, Dan Okoniewski, purchased Windy City Game Theater, an established business, in December 2020.
Lockwood said he learned a very painful lesson: Not being insured for only one day because he didn’t have the list of equipment to be insured finalized.
In a video Bob Lockwood created, above, he asks for aid. Here link to the GoFund me page: https://gofund.me/25bfc205
In transition from the previous owner to Bob and his partner, the trailer was not insured for one day. The previous owner canceled his policy and the new policy was set for the following day. Bob didn’t think one day would matter.
On the one day in between the insurance, the truck was robbed while housed in the gated storage facility. Stolen items include all the Xbox 1, PlayStation4, Nintendo Switches, more than 200 video games, televisions, game controllers, and other equipment with a replacement cost of approximately $5,000 to $6,000.
In addition, the trailer was damaged.
Lockwood is asking friends, family, and anyone willing to donate $5., $10., $15., $20., or more, to help.
Similar to most of us, you can add Lockwood to the list of individuals hoping for a healthier and more prosperous 2021.
