NEED TO KNOW
- Four men broke into a Los Angeles store and stole around $7,000 worth of Labubu dolls
- The owners of the store believe the burglary was planned after the owners posted on social media about restocking the dolls
- Labubu dolls, made by Chinese brand Pop Mart, are highly sought-after collectibles
A group of four men stole $7,000 worth of Labubu dolls, the summer’s hottest new toy, from a California store.
The store, One Stop Sales, posted on Instagram that burglars broke into their store and stole “all of our inventory,” including the trendy plush toy known for its toothy gremlin smile and big eyes.
“Today we got robbed, and they took all of our inventory, trashed our store, we are still in shock,” the post read. “If you guys can share this post please, and help us find these thieves.”
Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Deputies responded to the robbery in La Puente at 1:29 a.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 6, the department told NBC News.
“Several boxes of Labubu dolls were stolen, valued at approximately seven thousand dollars,” the sheriff’s department told the outlet in a statement. The four men used a stolen Toyota Tacoma that was recovered by deputies after the burglary, the statement added.
One Stop Sales posted security footage on Instagram that shows the four men breaking into the store and taking several boxes of the toys away.
Joanna Avendano, the co-owner of the store, told ABC7 that the shop had only been open for two months before it was robbed.
“There was a lot taken, maybe like around $30,000 or more of inventory,” Avendano said. “We worked so hard to get to this point, and for them to just come in and, like nothing, take it all away, it’s really bad.”
Avendano believes the break-in was planned, she told the outlet. She had noticed a truck parked near the store on Tuesday night after the store posted on social media that it had restocked the store with Labubus.
“I was watching everything, from when they got in, what they were taking,” she said. “I was panicking because I was just … I couldn’t do anything.”
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Labubu dolls are exclusively made by Pop Mart, a Chinese retailer that makes “blind box” items, where the contents remain unknown until the box is opened. According to the company’s website, the pricier dolls can go for $500, and most dolls are sold out online.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s investigation is ongoing, local outlets reported.
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