Kelly Bry, owner of Ouest Boutique in Wicker Park, has moved the most expensive of her chic women’s dresses and outfits to the back of the store after two dresses worth $300 each were stolen from her shop last winter and a police flier recently warned her of robberies in the area. The police flier said the robber implies he has a gun and grabs cash from the register. Chicago experienced a 9.6 percent increase in retail thefts in 2008 from 2007, to 11,289 incidents from 10,300, mirroring a national trend of increased shoplifting during a period of tough economic times, according to police reports and National Retail Federation data. So far this year, Chicago’s thefts are down about 2.4 percent, but retailers and police are on alert for thefts brought on by dire economic conditions.
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