Steakhouses, retailers and luxury garment shops are terrified of looters, and one industry is benefitting from their fears ... the board-up business.
A handful of board-up companies tell us they've been hammering and nailing shops from the Embarcadero in San Francisco to Chicago's Michigan Ave.
Most of the companies we spoke with say they were hired to do hazard cleanups, like crime scenes, in the past ... but can now make upward of $5k a pop just for boarding up a single store or restaurant front.
We're told they've been slammed with rush orders ever since the end of March when stay-at-home edicts went into effect most place. Some clients even include residential townhouses in NYC, iconic restaurant Smith & Wollensky and shi-shi stores like Versace and Jimmy Choo.
The $5k price tag might seem a little steep, but a board-up rep on the West Coast tells us it's usually at least half that to replace just one broken plate glass window.