'We won't be beaten': Bridal store owner defiant after £13k theft
"It is business as usual – we won't be beaten by mindless thieves."
That is the vow from a bridal shop owner after £13,000 worth of stock was stolen from her shop.
Thieves broke into Sara Lou Bridal & Mens Formal in Willenhall on Sunday – making off with dresses and tiaras worth thousands.
But owner Sarah Rutter has said the shop, which has been on Walsall Street for 18 years, remains open as normal despite the theft.
Its suppliers are working flat-out to replace items that were taken during the break-in, she added.
Mindless
Sarah, 43, said: "Suppliers are working non-stop to replace the garments that have been stolen.
"It normally takes 16 weeks to order and replace but we're confident that the garments will be replaced in the next two to three weeks.
"In the meantime we've still got plenty of stock.
"They didn't clear the whole shop out – they just took a fraction of it.
"We are trading as normal and won't be beaten by mindless thieves."
She continued: “I am sickened by it. It is the first time I could handle going back yesterday and every time I look at the invoice, I see more missing so overall they took £13,000 but I reckon it will equal up to £15,000.
“I got a call from the pub next door and I have had a window go before because someone was drunk and leaned against it so I thought it was that.
“But when I walked in, you cannot even explain, it was horrendous.
“I am self-employed with two kids so the shop is my whole life. You do not think they would steal from a bridal wear shop but they ransacked the tiaras closet.
“Within five minutes of calling them up, the police were there and they were wonderful. I could not praise them enough and the local community was brilliant.”
CCTV
Crooks smashed a window with a brick in order to gain entry and police are now scouring CCTV to identify the culprits.
Self-employed Sarah got a call from Mo Kavanagh, the landlady at The Crown pub next door, shortly after it happened on Sunday and said she was shocked to see the damage when she arrived.
A West Midlands Police spokesman said: “Police are investigating a burglary at Sara Lou Bridal in Walsall Street, Willenhall, which is believed to have taken place at around 6.30pm on Sunday 4 February.
"It is believed two people used a brick to force entry through a window and made off with a quantity of wedding dresses and accessories."
Anyone with information is asked to call police on 101, quoting crime reference 20WS/28106D/18.
