BRATTLEBORO — When you sell something that people want, you are going to become a magnet for thieves.
Patrick Brown knows this. He is the owner of Brown Computer Solutions on Birge Street, a full-line dealer of Apple computer products.
Brown says he's had to deal with shoplifters and break-ins of the mischievous variety, but he has never been the target of professional burglars until last Friday night.
According to Brattleboro police, officers responded to a burglar alarm at the store shortly after 10:30 p.m. Upon arrival, they found the store had been burglarized, and thousands of dollars of inventory had been stolen from a storage area in the rear of the store.
Brown said on Tuesday that 22 laptop computers valued at about $30,000 were stolen, and that the robbery was more than just the usual break-in.
He said that every previous burglary at the store had been perpetrated by “people who need to get their next fix and come in to grab the first thing that's in sight. If they break the door, that's the most expensive thing.”
Friday's robbery, by contrast, “was organized, completely planned out, and thought through,” he said. “They knew exactly what they wanted, and they took it.”
Brown said that the thieves were so single-minded that they ignored a pair of iPad 2 tablet computers, demonstration models that were sitting on a display counter. They also ignored a cardboard box filled with iPods sitting on a nearby counter.
“I was taking out the glass display case they were in on Friday night, because I thought the case was too easy to steal from,” Brown said. “They could have had a whole box of iPods, but they didn't even bother to look.”
Brattleboro police said that video obtained from store surveillance cameras is being reviewed, and some items found at the scene are being examined.
Brown said that he is covered by insurance and is in the process of increasing security at his store.
On Tuesday morning, he and his staff unloaded a new safe. But even before the break-in, he was rearranging his store to make it more difficult for shoplifters to make off with his merchandise.
Location, location, location
Brown Computer Solutions is the only Apple dealer in southern Vermont, and his service department now has six technicians.
Brown started his business in 1998, when he was still in high school, in the basement of his parents' house. By the fall of 1999, his business had grown to the point that he opened his first retail location in the Harmony Lot. He said that his business was not burglarized at that location.
Two years later, he got approval from Apple to be an authorized reseller and service provider, and moved to the Aubuchon Plaza on Putney Road. There was one break-in at that location, Brown said.
As sales and service volume grew exponentially, Brown soon outgrew the Putney Road site and, in 2006, he bought the current site of his store on Birge Street.
While Brown acknowledged that there has been more thievery at the the present site, he said that it is not linked to the store's location.
“This is happening at Apple dealers all around the country,” he said. “It's definitely about the desirability of the product - iPods, iPads and Macs.
“If [thieves] can get 50 cents on the dollar, it's pretty good money, and they are probably getting a lot more than 50 cents on the dollar,” he said. “If they were trying to sell Dell machines, they'd get 10 cents on the dollar.”
Brown also believes that the ever-shrinking size of the products makes it easier for thieves to steal them.
“You can carry $30,000 or $40,000 of stuff on your shoulder,” he said. “You can fit a lot of product in one trash bag.”
That's why Brown said he's working with his insurance company and investing in better alarms and better camera systems, with some of what he described as “lots of new technologies.”
“We're working with other dealers around the country to make a better, more secure store,” he said.
Brown said that he is grateful for the support of his customers. “When we opened the store on Monday morning, we had a very heavy flow of service check-ins, and what inventory we did have left sold out on Monday. We're anxiously awaiting more [replacement] product every day.”
Brown is offering a $1,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for the burglary. He said that it is the first time he has ever offered a reward.
“We're certainly hoping we can find some information so we can arrest these guys,” he said.
Anyone with information is asked to call Detective Lt. Mike Carrier at 802-257-7950, or the Brattleboro Police TIPSLINE at 802-251-6188.