Following a series of daytime robbery-related stabbings in Luxembourg City’s most expensive neighborhood, a local entrepreneur has responded by opening a pop-up knife sharpening service.
“I’m not a business genius, I’m just a simple man who can read the signs,” says Gino Pugnale, who now sharpens knives from the back of a van in Limpertsberg. “If you notice people are sweating, you sell fans. If you see that there is nowhere to buy food and drinks at the park, you open a snack stand.”
Pugnale says that he put himself in the shoes of an everyday mugger who relies on having a sharp weapon to practice his trade.
“Imagine you’re a violent criminal who just needs to stab your victim to get him to stop resisting and hand over his watch, but your knife is too dull to even break the skin,” he said. “I mean, that’s embarrassing, and there is a good chance your victim will laugh at you.”
“Even worse, all the witnesses who just a moment ago were pissing themselves, too scared to even run away or call the police, are suddenly thinking, what an amateur.”
This is the second time in recent memory that entrepreneurial residents have hopped on the support-services-for-crime bandwagon. Just last month, a woman in Ettelbruck began selling custom-made explosives from her home for people who want to blow up a cash machine but are too afraid to build their own bomb. And in 2019, several local suppliers began catering to the booming home burglary sector.
