Downtown Fernandina Beach store loses hundreds of dollars in items after break-in

Downtown Fernandina Beach store loses hundreds of dollars in items after break-in

Finn Carlin

Wed, December 24, 2025 at 2:00 AM UTC

2 min read

Ashley Shaw, the owner of The Salty Local in downtown Fernandina Beach, spent part of her weekend handling the first break-in she’s ever experienced while being in business.

Shaw shared security camera video online showing the break-in, which happened overnight Saturday into Sunday morning. It shows a man somehow walking into the shop before crawling through the store and stuffing his pockets with what Shaw estimated to be 16 items totaling around $600.

Shaw told us she has no idea who broke in or how he broke in.

“I found out because a whole row of perfume samples had been missing,” Shaw said, “then I looked back through my surveillance video and saw all of the chaos.”

Among the items Shaw said were stolen were maple syrup, butter syrup, and perfume.

“This [store] is my second home,” Shaw said, “I was like, I can’t believe somebody was in here in the middle of the night when nobody was here.”

The FBI collects property crime and theft data from law enforcement agencies across the U.S., including from the Nassau County Sheriff’s Office and Fernandina Beach Police Department.

Action News Jax took a look at data over the last five years and found that there has been a steep drop in the number of thefts reported around the county: there were 910 thefts reported in 2020, 562 in 2022, and 139 this year.

But the data doesn’t reflect reports from businesses around the country.

The National Retail Federation recently released a report saying that, between 2023 and 2024, businesses across the U.S. reported a 19% increase in overall thefts, which include an 18% rise in shoplifting cases and a 12% increase in break-ins.

Shaw said she has seen items stolen before, but believes the break-in over the weekend led to the biggest loss in items she has ever seen at her store.

“It really stinks,” Shaw said, “but hopefully we find [who broke in] and can, like, at least get some stuff back, have them pay for it.”

The Fernandina Beach Police Department tells Action News Jax it is investigating the break-in, but no arrests have been made at this time.

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