RFP Staff
♦ It’s the holiday shopping season and brick and mortar stores all over Salisbury are feeling the heat from Amazon.com and other online shopping giants as well as the large retail leakage to Concord Mills, Afton Ridge, and retailers in Huntersville and Winston-Salem. Downtown Salisbury is suffering stoically from its usual lack of human traffic and the fact that many fear going down there because of the crime. Large on all Salisbury’s retailers radar is pilferage. Especially hard hit are Wall-mart and K-Mart.
According to Salisbury Police sources Hibbett Sports on 1345 Klumac Road was hit Thursday just before 1 p.m. by a trio of shoplifters to the tune of $650 worth of Jordan and Nike clothing. (Jordan sweatpants (1), Nike Zip-ups (5), and Nike Pants (5). Hibbett Sports suffers not only from shoplifting, online competition, and typical retail leakage to other counties, they are wilting from their head-to-head competition with sporting goods super-giant Dick’s Sports at “Shoppes at the Summit”. Hibbetts seems empty most days since the Dick’s Sports opened with their dazzling array of stock and their highly competitive prices.
Hibbett Sports at 1345 Klumac Road in Salisbury, N.C.:
Location Hibbett Sports 1345 Klumac Road in Salisbury, N.C.:
The trio of young shoplifters entered the store earlier and then left after “scoping out” the store for several minutes. When they returned a short time later, two of the trio inquired about athletic shoes while another asked questions about gift cards. After the contact, they walked toward the front of Hibbett’s and snatched clothing off the racks before running out the door. Outside they climbed into a gray 2016 Nissan Rogue driven by a 4th young man and sped from the lot.
An alert customer took a cellphone photo of the Nissan, the license plate, and the driver.
Salisbury Police learned later the 2016 Nissan Rogue belonged to a car rental agency.
This crime remains under investigation.
Citizens having any knowledge about this crime are urged to call the Salisbury Police at 704-638-5333. If you fear retribution, want to remain anonymous and possibly collect an award of up to $1,000, information can be submitted 24/7 via the web: http://tips.salisburyrowancrimestoppers.org/ or by calling the Salisbury-Rowan Crime Stoppers at 1-866-639-5245.
