A shocked shop owner is counting the cost after £80,000 of designer gear was stolen in a raid on his streetwear store in Aberdeen.
Police are searching for thieves who broke into Overhype on The Green on Monday night.
They cleared out the store, which sells expensive clothing and footwear by streetwear and high-end brands such as Stone Island, Yeezy, Nike, Moncler and Burberry.
Owner Sam Rattray said: “We put absolutely everything into our new store opening, not only time and energy, but also a lot of money, which we now fear may have been all for nothing.
“We’ve only been open for a few weeks, so it’s awful this happened, especially so close to Christmas.”
The 18-year-old entrepreneur set up a GoFundMe page to help raise funds to be able to reopen his store, which will remain closed until further notice.
Sam added: “We’re hoping to reopen before Christmas, which was supposed to be a busy period for us.
“All our stock on the shop floor as well as the stock we had in the back was stolen.
“The stock was worth approximately £80,000.
“We’re trying to raise £65,000 to be able to reopen.
“We had to close the shop and the online store too because we just don’t have any stock at the moment.”
The police are currently investigating what happened between 8pm on Monday and 10am this morning.
Sam, who tries to remain positive, said that in addition to getting new stock and fixing the entrance doors, he will also use the funds to invest in more security measures and have a CCTV installed.
He said: “Being a new store and wanting to open as quickly as possible for the community meant we were still in the process of securing the shop with CCTV and alarm systems, which were due to be installed early the following week.”
Sam hopes generous locals will donate and help him reopen the fashion store.
“Big or small, it will make a difference,” said the shop owner.
“We’d also like to encourage people to share the GoFundMe link on social media.”
Overhype – which relocated to The Green after outgrowing its previous retail unit in the Galleria shopping complex – only officially opened its doors on November 14.
Detective Sergeant John Pirie of North East CID said: “I am appealing to anyone who may have any information about the break-in to come forward.
“A five figure sum of clothing was stolen from the shop along with a small sum of cash.
“Officers are carrying out enquiries and reviewing CCTV in an effort to establish who was responsible.
“Anyone who was in the area during the early hours of 1 December 2020 and has information that will assist this investigation is asked to contact us through 101 quoting reference number 0898 of Tuesday, 1 December, 2020.
“Alternatively, Crimestoppers can be contacted on 0800 555 111, where anonymity can be maintained.”
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