WICHITA, Kan. (KWCH) – When you think of retail theft, you might think of clothing or jewelry stores, but what about stores that sell trading cards?
Break-ins in Wichita have become so frequent that a Wichita trading card store is offering a $2,000 reward for information leading to arrests.
The latest burglary impacting the niche businesses happened at Rated E Cards and Collectibles in the 2300 block of East Douglas.
The break-in happened a little before 5:30 a.m. Monday.
“I’m guessing we had around [$6,000] to $7,000 worth of cards taken,” said Rated E Cards and Collectibles Owner Ernest Oliphant. “It’s going to be a pain in the butt to go through and figure out what was gone and then itemize it and put it all on a sheet.”
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Oliphant said this isn’t the first time the business has been targeted.
“This is the second time. We moved here in November of last year. We were open already on Pawnee and Oliver, but we’ve been broken into twice since we’ve been here,” he said.
Rated E Cards and Collectibles isn’t alone. Thieves have targeted card shops around Wichita, including Wizard’s Alley in the 100 block of North St Francis, the site of a break-in last month that was caught on camera. The owners at Wizard’s Alley are offering a $2,000 reward for anyone who provides information that leads to arrests.
Multiple shops pooled together for the reward.
“A lot of the local card and game shops have been getting hit with burglaries lately, and nothing seems to be changing,” said Wizard’s Alley Owner Brian Hunter.
In the past year, Wizard’s Alley has been broken into multiple times. Hunter provided insight into why trading cards are being stolen.
“The cards can be valuable,” he said. “Some single card can be hundreds of dollars. So, they are easy to move. It’s hard to identify a card and say it’s yours because you can’t write your name on it. Once they are out of the store, you can’t tell where they came from.”
Hunter said the situation is hurting small businesses.
“You know, guys are tired of thousands of bucks (going) to get doors and glass and windows fixed,” he said.
The shop owner also has a message for the thieves involved in the recent crimes.
“This hurts the community as a whole, and it also puts a black eye on Wichita. And I hope you get caught, and I hope you go to jail,” Hunter said.
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