A cosmetics company now makes an unexpected closure after authorities discovered the business was selling stolen goods.
Rehana’s Cosmetics in New York City has closed down after police found more than $1 million in stolen products, the district attorney said.
As of now, two people have been arrested.
On Wednesday, the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office announced the arrest and shared a photo of the shocking scene.
Mountains of beauty products including medicine, vitamins, clothing, grooming devices, and more were found, and officials allege they were stolen from retailers like Macy’s and CVS.
District Attorney Alvin Bragg said the local perfume and makeup store was a well-known destination for shoplifted items.
Officers filled 450 cardboard boxes with the items after visiting the store and two storage units associated with the store owners.
Bragg said all together the products are worth over $1 million.
“Retail theft is a scourge that impacts our local businesses and jeopardizes the safety of employees and customers alike,” Bragg said.
“We must use every tool in our toolbox to address the root causes of theft, and a critical piece of that is upstream, proactive investigations into those who stand to profit.”
Bibi Rehana Khan, 54, and Aaron Khan, 40, were arrested for operating a fencing scheme, according to police.
A fencer is a moving man who helps to facilitate the sale of stolen goods.
According to Bragg, taking down fencers is key to stopping retail theft.
“In addition to disrupting fencing networks, we will continue to target the small number of recidivists who are driving a significant amount of retail theft and ensure appropriate accountability,” Bragg said.
Theft has been ramping up nationwide since 2020, and retailers and law enforcement are teaming up to make a dent in the $90 billion shoplifting crisis, reports The-Sun.
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A whopping 3,000 retail stores will now close this year after popular clothing brands Rue21 and and Express announced their closures.
The list now grows to approximately 3,100 stores shutting down by the end of this year, per The-Sun.
And this number figure is expected to grow as more businesses announce closures throughout the remainder of the year.
Rue 21 recently announced bankruptcy and a plan to close all 540 remaining stores across the US in the next six weeks.
Express also announced plans on closing over 100 stores across the US in addition to a store closure in Central New York.
If the rising rate of retailers closing down stores continues, an estimated 8,000 locations will be closed by the end of the year.
That many closures would be 40% more than the US saw last year.
In 2023, over 4,000 retailers shut down stores, which was twice the amount of store closures from 2022, according to the National Retail Federation.
2023 also saw the closing of hundreds of Bed, Bath and Beyond stores after the major retailer filed for bankruptcy.
The retailer cited inflation as the primary reason for shutting down its in person stores, moving to an online only format.
The inflation rates from January 2023 to January 2024 increased by 3.1%, with food prices rising by 2.6%, as reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
In response to the rising rate of inflation, many stores are raising prices or risk closing.
One Canadian supermarket, Loblaws, raised its food prices so dramatically that customers are staging a boycott for the whole month of May.
The Dollar Tree, a retailer known for everything in its stores being $1 or less, announced that it will be raising prices on certain items to as high as $7.
“This year, across 3,000 stores, we expect to expand our multi-price assortment by over 300 items at price points ranging from $1.50 to $7,” the company’s CEO, Rick Dreiling, said during an earnings call.
The last time the discount chain announced a price hike was in 2021 when prices on select items went from $1 to $1.25.
Aside from raising its prices, Dreiling also announced that over 1000 stores will most likely be closing in 2024.
Other major retailers such as Walgreens, Walmart, and JCPenney announced major closures this year.
Walmart announced store closures in California, Ohio, and Maryland–totaling to six closures so far this year.
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