A south Edmonton consignment and restoration business owner is shaken after several luxury bags were stolen in a robbery overnight.
Owner Yardley Uy learned about the break-in at Edmonton BagSpa (6017 104 St.) around 6:30 a.m. Wednesday.
The store specializes in cleaning, repairing, restoring, and verifying the authenticity of high-end purses and bags from brands like Hermes, Chanel, Dior, Gucci, Alexander McQueen, Versace, Prada, Valentino and other pricy designer brands.
BagSpa also offers consignment services for those looking to sell their bags.
Uy said her husband went to the shop early to clean, when he noticed some damage to the door lock. Inside, some of the merchandise on shelves was missing.
According to Uy, more than 20 high-end bags are now gone. She’s still trying to figure out how much the bags are worth, but with many going for hundreds or thousands of dollars, thinks it adds up to about $40,000.
She says it’s not only a difficult time for her, but for the Edmontonians wishing to gift the bags to loved ones.
Uy offers cleaning and restoration services for clients dropping off their bags and many of those went missing too.
“There’s a lot, a lot of owners who trusted my business,” she explained.
She also learned her credit card disappeared when she started to receive alerts that around $5,000 worth of furniture was purchased, and delivered, to an address in Mill Woods.
Uy says she feels guilty, and let some of her clients down, as many of them were purchasing or fixing bags as presents.
“They want their bags to get fixed as Christmas presents for themselves. The husband’s paid for the bag. I feel sorry for everyone who was affected,” she added.
Edmonton police say they are looking into the theft. Uy says she will temporarily close her store until the case is resolved.
“I know Christmas is coming. Everybody needs money. Christmas is for giving. But don’t do this to businesses like us, where we are all small businesses trying to thrive.”