SEATTLE — A Seattle consignment shop is back in business after burglars used a car to smash their way through the storefront.
The break-in at the Madison Valley neighborhood shop Feb. 26 was perhaps the most dramatic the stores owners have seen, but they said it wasn’t a surprise due to the number of crimes they've dealt with since opening in 2019.
“Pulling up I’m like, I can not believe there is a car in our store. It was just, like, mind boggling. It really is mind boggling,” said Susie Cohen, co-founder of The Refind Closet.
Co-owners Jeannine Christofilis and Cohen walked into an abandoned sedan in the middle of their shop. It was a brazen break=in that was all caught on camera. Just before 3 a.m. the occupants of a black Camary tried to push their way through a metal gate. When that didn’t work, they used the sedan as a battering ram.
“And then you hear this smash of a car coming through,” said Cohen.
A lot of work for not a lot of loot.
Seattle Police confirmed they are investigating and have no suspect information to release.
“So they did all this effort for nothing, because the bag wall the bags and jewelry, all of our very big valuables are gone at closing,” Cohen.
Their shop opened in 2019 and since then has developed a large online following; one they’ve grown from an online shopping segment broadcast live from Madison Valley. It's a store that’s become synonymous with luxury – shoppers know that but so do the thieves.
For example, in November of 2022 two masked men walk in and out with a handful of designer purses, surveillance video shows.
“I’m just not going to run with too much fear. We will protect ourselves. We will build layers of security within this business to protect ourselves and the goods for our customers – and I think in this instance it showed that we did,” Christofilis said.
Despite the plywood covering up the damage to the storefront, the show goes on. The owners told KING 5 they won’t close up shop, no matter what the world throws at them.