Whitehorse Daily Star

Clothing stolen from shop is worth $1,500

When Candace Gribben arrived at her family’s store Monday morning, ready to open it for the day, she could tell immediately something wasn’t right.

By Rhiannon Russell on July 7, 2015

When Candace Gribben arrived at her family’s store Monday morning, ready to open it for the day, she could tell immediately something wasn’t right.

Hangers were strewn across the floor by the Front Street Clothing Company’s entrance and a sweater hung from the security gate.

“It was so odd,” Gribben told the Star this morning.

“My first reaction wasn’t, ‘Oh, we got robbed.”

But that’s what happened – sometime between Saturday evening when the shop closed for the weekend and Monday morning when it opened, an unknown suspect or suspects managed to pull a clothing rack towards the security gate and reach through the barrier to pull $1,500 of clothes off it.

Leather, cord and suede Levi’s jackets were stolen, along with T-shirts, long-sleeved shirts and zip-up sweaters.

Prior to the theft, the rack had been positioned about a foot from the gate, Gribben said.

That has led her to believe the thief used a hook or device to pull it closer so it was within reach.

“They stole from us,” she said. “Out of our pocket.

“Now we have to make up for it. I don’t think they see it like that.”

Gribben said nothing like this has ever happened before – stealing and shoplifting haven’t been an issue in the past.

She said the manager of Horwood’s Mall told her the building has no security cameras.

Mall management could not be reached this morning to confirm this.

Gribben said her family will now be installing cameras in the store.

Whitehorse RCMP Const. Julia Fox said this morning police are investigating the incident.

There have been several break-ins around Whitehorse in the last few months.

These events are saddening, Gribben said.

“Everybody has to work together as a community and put the word out that it’s not OK to steal from local businesses,” she said.

“We’re trying to make this community better.

“Think about the big picture,” Gribben added, addressing the suspects in these break-in cases.

“Think about people’s feelings and the hard work that they’ve put into their businesses.”

Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call Whitehorse RCMP at 667-5555.

Comments (5)

Up 7 Down 2

Tory Stee on Jul 11, 2015 at 2:52 pm

I am with JWhite on this one. Seems like every news story June or some other frequent poster has something to say like, "This is the Whitehorse of today."
And then somebody has to explain this has been Whitehorse forever and the whole world forever. We did not get to this point in evolution by being honest and lacking aggression. If your sick of hearing about this sort of news, don't read the news, because this is what sells and these will ALWAYS be the kind of stories that get published.

Up 11 Down 4

JWhite on Jul 11, 2015 at 10:29 am

Is anyone else tired of the "good old days" rant? Whitehorse had shoplifting, drugs, vandalism in those good old days and I suspect at the same rate as today. It wasn't safe to walk down Main Street at midnight in 1971, and it isn't any more or less safe today. People who move here from other places bring with them new ideas and energy and make this a better place for all of us. And guess what folks, sometimes they do have a better way of doing things outside. Keep your minds clean. Change them occasionally.

Up 13 Down 1

sprucetip on Jul 9, 2015 at 5:08 pm

Retail 101: keep racks FAR away from security gates that people can reach through.

Up 50 Down 8

Yukon Ann on Jul 8, 2015 at 1:09 pm

Whitehorse was better than this before the trash moved north or bad parents of kids became the norm.

Up 36 Down 8

June Jackson on Jul 7, 2015 at 3:51 pm

Shoplifting, looting, drugs, vandalism, destruction, violence, b and es. This is the Whitehorse of today.

Too bad.. we could be, and have been so much better

Add your comments or reply via Twitter @whitehorsestar

In order to encourage thoughtful and responsible discussion, website comments will not be visible until a moderator approves them. Please add comments judiciously and refrain from maligning any individual or institution. Read about our user comment and privacy policies.

Your name and email address are required before your comment is posted. Otherwise, your comment will not be posted.