SEATTLE — A Seattle business owner in Pioneer Square is fed up with getting robbed, so he’s moving his high-value items out of the store and selling them online. It’s a move that comes after Simply Seattle was broken into four times so far this year.
The most recent robbery happened Thursday morning when thieves broke in and stole thousands of dollars’ worth of jerseys.
“It’s the only place in the city where you can get authentic gear that really doesn’t exist anymore since the [Sonics are] gone,” said Jonathan Shank, an employee at Simply Seattle’s 1st Avenue location.
The Seattle Sonics are long gone, but the jerseys the team made famous are still as popular as ever, and they’re not cheap.
Also see | The world's largest collection of Sonics gear at a retail store is in Seattle's Pioneer Square
“This [Sonics] jersey up here is $300, and most jerseys run at $130,” Shank said. “It’s the most expensive item in our store.”
The thieves pried their way through a metal gate early Thursday morning passed a locked door and into the sports apparel store.
“The gate had been popped open, the door was loose, and pretty much everything to my right was all empty,” Shank explained. “We had probably about $6,000 worth of gear that was just gone.”
The break-in struck a nerve with the store’s owner. In an open letter to the residents of Seattle posted to social media, the store announced that their high-end jerseys “will only be available online.”
“We’ve had four burglaries or break-ins in the last year that have been really big hits, and we just feel like at lease at this moment scale back and have that stuff just online,” Shank said.
It’s something they don’t want to do but feel like they have to. All to make sure they can keep serving Seattle Sports fans for years to come.
Management at the Pioneer Square store said stolen merchandise can show up for sale on the street, especially on game days. They want you to make sure you buy licensed goods from a reputable dealer.