Brock St. ‘mini-mall’ struck by thieves

Lisha Van Nieuwenhove

It’s difficult to imagine the Brock Street “mini-mall” getting swarmed by shoplifters – it’s a relatively small space at 14 Brock Street East that houses not one but three shops – Keith’s Flowers, Sugar FX and Threads Boutique. But just before closing time on Wednesday, June 26, swarmed it was, leaving two small sales and quite a few empty clothes hangers in its wake.

“I haven’t done the inventory yet, but from my initial scan, I’d say it’s at least $1,000 retail,” says Averie Thorn-Smith, owner of Threads Boutique.

Thorn-Smith says she and the owners of the other two businesses in the space (Christina Curry of Keith’s Flowers, and Cheryl Hinzel of Sugar FX) are convinced that the four people who entered their shop were well-organized and extremely experienced.

Thorn-Smith says a man who appeared to be in his 40s, a woman over 65, and two women in their 20s entered 14 Brock St. “quickly, in single file.” She says Hinzel was watching the two younger women when the man purchased a chocolate bar from her shop, which is near the entrance. The older lady purchased a gift item from Curry, whose cashier counter is towards the back of the store. Thorn-Smith says she was busy with another client at the time, and couldn’t immediately attend to the other two women, who “went to town.”

“They were in and out in two minutes,” says Thorn-Smith. “And to add insult to injury, the guy only took a bite of the chocolate bar and then left it on the bench.”

Once the foursome left, Thorn-Smith the three shop owners immediately convened to “wonder what the heck had just happened.” It wasn’t until the next morning she discovered several empty hangers hidden amongst the clothing on her racks and shelves.

“The women were wearing long, layered clothing to tuck, hang, and hide stuff. They were all pro,” she says. “I don’t know them, they don’t know me, but it feels so personal because they came in with the intention of stealing from me, directly out of my pocket. It’s like they came into my home.”

Thorn-Smith says she did have cameras that took stills of the incident, but she feels she now needs a more advanced – and more expensive – security system. She also reported the incident to the Durham Region Police Service, who told her to file her report online.

“I just need people to know that theft isn’t unheard of in this town,” says Thorn-Smith. “It happens all the time. Other small business owners need to be aware of this, in a small safe community like this. We’re not immune.”