Store employees of Giblees Menswear & Tuxedos in Danvers thwarted the attempts of a group of thieves to steal over a dozen high-end jackets on December 26.
The attempted heist and subsequent alteration, which took place around 11:30 a.m. that day according to the Salem News, was captured on surveillance video, shown below in an Inside Edition segment.
Giblees has reportedly lost over 50 of their Canada Goose jackets to theft in recent years. In December 2017, employees taking inventory said that over 30 jackets had gone missing in one week. Earlier this holiday season, the store said that 11 of the winter coats were missing, they believe because of the same person over the course of a few trips.
The Canada Goose brand jackets, which retail between $950 and $1,200, had been kept in the back of the store after being targeted several times throughout the last couple of years in shoplifting incidents. The group, four women and one man, attempted to grab several coats before being apprehended by store employees near the exit.
“We were already prepared,” said store owner Alan Gibeley. Because of recent thefts, the store had an employee positioned up front for such occasions. “We met them at the door, three or four of us, and grabbed on to the coats and pulled them out of their hands.” They were able to recover all but one of the coats.
Police caught up with the suspects in Lynn later that day. All five face charges of larceny, while three of them also face assault and battery charges—one Giblees employee suffered cuts to the face apparently from a clothing hanger in the altercation.
Now, said Gibeley, the Canada Goose jackets are no longer being displayed on the floor. They’re in the employees-only area, and store patrons can try them on by request.
“It’s hard to put locks on our coats,” said Gibeley. “We try to always have an environment that’s fun in here and not so corporate-like, like a department store. I don’t want to lose the feeling of how special this store is.”
He said it’ll be a decision they make next season whether or not to keep their luxury coats roped off. “It’ll be difficult to address, but we’ll figure out a way.”