The Philadelphia Tribune
Written By: Larry Miller

Philadelphia police are looking to identify two Black women who robbed a store connected to a local charity out of over $2,000 in merchandise.

The incident happened on Friday Dec. 27 at the Wardrobe Boutique, located at 19th and Spring Garden Streets. The boutique donates clothing and other items to the Career Wardrobe, a charity that helps women, many of them newly released from prison. The boutique raises funds for the organization by selling donated clothing at affordable prices, according to Sheri Cole, Career Wardrobe’s executive director.

“We’re a nonprofit and we also run the retail store on Spring Garden Street, which was where the robbery took place,” Cole said. It happened around 6:00 p.m. as the store was beginning to close for the day. Two women came in and browsed around the store, mostly looking at the high-end merchandise, Cole said.

According to investigators, the suspects stole three purses, two jackets and one wallet totaling $1,519. They are described as Black females. The first is between 21- to 25-years-old and was wearing a blue jacket and purple scarf. The second female is described as wearing a red jacket and white pants. Both fled in a white vehicle.

“They were looking only at the designer items, handbags, which they grabbed and ran from the store. The sales associate followed them, which, of course she shouldn’t have done. If there is a silver lining, it’s that we’ve had this tremendous outpouring of support from folks who want to help and want to replace what was stolen,” Cole said. She also said the charity gives away thousands of articles of clothing every year to unemployed women. “In a strange twist of irony, when these women are arrested, we’ll be there for them when they get out of prison.”