Hey Dudes and Bettys!
How are y'all?
This week, I'm going to talk about some shoplifting activities that don't get much attention. Honestly, crime happens all the time. But here's a surmise of some of what's gone down...
You remember the craziest incident ever that happened on Black Friday 2011 at the Hollister EPIC store, Soho, NYC? Eager shoppers queued up early, as they expected the store to open at midnight as the other stores did. According to a nearby street vendor who said he saw chaos, roughly 20 teens grew impatient when the store didn't open at midnight. They broke in and grabbed all the clothing as they could. They then headed to the Broadway-Lafayette subway station and ran away with the goods. NYPD confirmed there was a burglary, but refused to give any other details.
Another incident happened on the 23rd of February 2013: there was a 'Secret Sale' on tees with up to 60% off, but some people didn't think that was enough, and went for 100% off. Sometime between 3:30 and 4pm at the Hollister store in the Geneva Commons Mall, 98 tees were stolen. The T-shirts were situated on several shelves near the front of the store. The suspect(s) have not been caught and Police are working with management at the store to find the missing stock valued at US$1,700 (sale price).
Rockaway Township Police were called to the Rockaway Township Mall on the 14th of February 2013, because of two people acting suspiciously. Hollister store models and management had believed the two had stolen cologne from the store earlier that day. Police stopped the vehicle and searched it. Inside they found 32 bottles of cologne and perfume from Abercrombie & Fitch, including FIERCE. And four bottles of perfume from the Hollister store, as well. In total, US$2,144 worth of merchandise was stolen. Police returned all the stock to the stores. Both criminals were sent to the Morris County correction facility.
On a more recent note: On the 12th March 2013, Seattle police arrested a 49 year old man who threatened A&F employees with a knife after being caught shoplifting. The man was believed to have shoplifted a bottle of FIERCE cologne after entering the store - located on the corner of 4th Avenue and Pine Street - around 7:30pm. Employees confronted him by asking if he intended to pay for the bottle he had placed in his gym bag...and the man then pulled out a knife. Employees backed off and called 911. Management told officers that they had seen the man before, and believed he had previously shoplifted. The police arrested the man 3 blocks up, and he was booked into the King County Jail for investigation of robbery.
These are just a few of incidents. Honesty always wins: never shoplifted or "forgotten" to pay...not recommended. :)
I also have some news about the Hollister outlet that was rumored to open at Cheshire Oaks Designer Outlet Village here in the UK. According to a handful of websites, the first HCo outlet was due to open at the outlet village in Q3 of 2013. Management at Cheshire Oaks has denied any sort of Hollister or Abercrombie outlet store opening for the foreseeable future. They also have said that A&F has not been in contact to discuss a possible outlet store, which would be the first in the UK.
Anyways, that's all for now,
Stay FIERCE!
~Cameron