A thrift shop run by a nonprofit that provides career counseling and professional wardrobe pieces to women in need reported it was struck Friday night by shoplifters who made off with $2,000 worth of designer bags and coats.
Two women entered the Wardrobe Boutique, run by Career Wardrobe at North 19th and Spring Garden Streets, about 6 p.m. Friday and browsed for a few minutes, Sheri Cole, executive director of the nonprofit, said in an interview Saturday. The women examined the designer items at the front of the store before running out.
The first woman took what she had in hand, Cole said, and the second ran behind the counter, grabbed some items, and followed. A store employee chased them and was able to grab a bag back, but was unable to get a clear description of the women or stop them, Cole said, adding that a getaway driver was waiting in a running car.
Seven Louis Vuitton and Gucci bags and two Burberry coats were taken, Cole said.
The store had been the target of theft before, but Friday’s was the most audacious, she said.
“That $2,000 could have gone to outfit 10 women and help them on their job search and help them to provide for their families,” Cole said. “So it’s just very disheartening to be taken advantage of in this way.”
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