HOUSTON, Texas – If you’ve been scrolling through social media, you might have come across videos showing flash mob shoplifters storming lululemon stores nationwide, making off with hundreds, or even thousands of dollars in merchandise without paying.
Here in Houston, 2 Investigates learned through police reports that flash mob shoplifters targeted Houston Lululemon stores 51 times in the last six months. The thieves often got away with thousands of dollars in merchandise.
The Heights location, notably, was targeted three times in a single day.
2 Investigates has compiled surveillance footage showcasing these flash mob thefts from Lululemon stores in Washington, D.C., Houston, and Philadelphia.
On March 24, the Metropolitan Police Department in Washington, D.C. released video footage of a group of thieves wearing hoodies and jackets as they entered a Lululemon store, quickly took a large amount of merchandise, and fled without paying.
In another incident, video captures a man and a woman attempting to steal thousands of dollars’ worth of merchandise from a Lululemon store in Philadelphia. The suspects were eventually caught by police while loading two trash bags filled with clothing into their vehicle. Authorities reported the stolen goods were valued at approximately $12,000.
A third incident, caught on cellphone video, shows a woman carrying a pile of clothes as she exits a Lululemon store in the Heights and gets into a vehicle.
These videos are just a glimpse of the troubling trend we’ve uncovered. The footage clearly shows a larger issue: customers casually walking out of Lululemon stores with merchandise, often with no apparent attempt to stop them.
Lululemon’s corporate policy prohibits employees from confronting thieves, and many locations lack security. However, following a surge in thefts in Houston, 2 Investigates has learned that Lululemon is revising its strategy. The company has now employed security guards at the Heights location to deter theft.
Additionally, from July through January, police arrested 11 shoplifting suspects at the three Houston locations, with total losses surpassing $275,000.
