Willow Glen Resident
News
Merchants are caught off guard when pricey garb is stolen off racks
By Mayra Flores De Marcotte
Lincoln Avenue business owners were stunned by several robberies that occurred during the middle of the day.
Barbarella, a clothing boutique and beauty salon at 1313 Lincoln Ave., had $4,000 worth of clothing and accessories stolen from its outdoor rack on July 6 at 12:30 p.m.
Earlier that same day, Sugar Magnolia, a clothing boutique at 1213 Lincoln Ave., was also hit. Owners of Sugar Magnolia are still trying to determine the total loss.
According to San Jose Police Department spokesman Enrique Garcia, the thieves in both cases have similar descriptions. The first is described a white woman in her 40s, approximately 5 feet 4 inches tall, weighing 170 pounds, with light brown hair. The second woman is in her 20s, about 5 feet 5 inches tall, medium build with dirty-blond hair. Both women are still at large.
According to Sugar Magnolia co-owner Vjollca Elmazaj, two women in a silver Kia with no license plates pulled up in front of the store. Elnazaj said the women were hanging around by outdoor clothing rack acting suspiciously.
Elmazaj said that her sister, co-owner Mersada Kraja, who was in the store, went outside to check the clothing racks and discovered inventory missing. Kraja knew Barbarella also had a clothing rack outside the store, and she called owner Rebecca Sell to warn her about the theft.
The warning, however, arrived too late because two women fitting the same description had already been to Barbarella and grabbed stacks of T-shirts from baskets next to the outdoor clothing rack, according to store manager Alicia Paquette.
Paquette witnessed the women throw the clothes into the back seat of a silver Kia and drive off.
"This has never happened before," said Paquette, who was with a customer when the robbery occurred.
The two women subsequently returned to the business. According to Paquette, Sell noticed the women the second time transferring clothes from the rack to their car.
"The owner went out there screaming at the two women asking then what they were doing," Paquette said. "They just said, 'Nothing, go away.' Rebecca was practically in their car trying to block them from getting back in order to get a better description of them."
The women's back seat was filled with inventory from both stores, Paquette said.
One of the women shoved Sell aside and jumped back into the car, and they drove off, Paquette said.
The storeowner filed a report with the San Jose Police Department and then thanked Kraja for the heads-up.
"There's a lot going on out there near the outdoor racks, and our space is pretty deep," Paquette said. "We are just going to have to keep a close eye on everything."
Kraja also filed a report on the stolen merchandise. She and her sister were shocked by the robberies.
"What nerve of those women," said Elmazaj. "I can't believe they made two trips."
The merchants said it might have happened again if the shop owners hadn't worked together to help each other out.
Bernie Levine, co-owner of Details, a clothing store on the opposite side of Barbarella's, has had his share of thefts at his Lincoln Avenue location. The last one was two years ago.
"It's one of the problems in the retail business," Levine said. "We all have to be vigilant, be there for each other. Never forget that there are people out there like this."
Bella James co-owner Vicki Malvini, whose clothing boutique is located inside the Garden Theater, said her store is not immune to theft, either.
"I thought because we were enclosed we wouldn't have a problem," Malvini said.
But that was not the case. The store had some high-end denim pants stolen earlier this year from the clothing rack just outside the store in the mall, she said.
"We stopped putting a rolling rack outdoors because of it," Malvini said.
Keeping communication open with other merchants has helped Malvini avoid major losses.
When the store first opened
1 1/2 years ago, Winestyles owner Tom Martell alerted Malvini about a person trying to cash fraudulent checks.
Martell showed Malvini a check. Two days later that same person came in and tried to write an $800 check in Malvini's shop. The warning prevented a loss, and the person was subsequently arrested.
"That information saved us from a really large ding," Malvini said. "We should all talk with each other. That was great what Sugar did."
