St. Gallen boutique in ruins after theft "The store was my baby, now everything is destroyed"

A burglary brings a St. Gallen second-hand boutique to a standstill. The store has been closed for two months. Customers are angry and the police are investigating.

For over 37 years, the boutique on Burggraben in St. Gallen sold high-end second-hand fashion - from Gucci bags to Max Mara dresses. The store was set up by Erika Bruderer. "The store was my baby. My life's work. Now everything is destroyed," says the 63-year-old to theTagblatt newspaper.

The shop was broken into on July 8, 2024. Bags from Gucci, Prada and Chanel stolen. The door has been closed for two months. Customers feel cheated.

Bruderer is the former owner of the boutique. After more than three decades, she was looking for a successor for her boutique. In the end, she sold the store to her former apprentice daughter in 2019 for 140,000 francs. She was just 20 years old at the time. "I thought she was the right person," Bruderer tells the newspaper.

And at first she was. The former apprentice's daughter brought a breath of fresh air into the business, built up the online presence and nurtured the customer base. Customers gave up their clothes on consignment.

Focus on more luxury goods such as Rolex watches

But then the focus began to shift. More and more luxury goods were sold. At the end of 2021, the former apprentice daughter handed over the management to her husband. He increasingly focused on designer bags and Rolex watches. Once even a Rolls-Royce.

The customers didn't like these changes at all. One told the Tagblatt: "It was as if the store was losing its soul."

On July 8, 2024, the unknown perpetrators allegedly stole over 50 bags worth tens of thousands of francs. The former apprentice's daughter and her husband published a surveillance video on Instagram and offered a reward of 10,000 francs. To no avail.

The customers are said to have only found out about the break-in on their own initiative. "I wanted my Bottega Veneta bag worth 4,400 francs back, but suddenly it was gone," says one customer. The former apprentice's daughter had put her off for months with ongoing insurance investigations.

"Very dubious and dubious business"

The telephone line has been dead for two months and the boutique is closed. The customers are angry. Accusations of fraud are also doing the rounds: "Very dubious and dubious business. They enter into a binding purchase contract via Instagram, but never deliver the goods. Hands off!" Another customer warns: "Fraudulent business! Goods were paid for and NEVER arrived."

The cantonal police have not yet closed the case. They are investigating unknown persons and have no evidence that the burglary was staged. No customer has filed a complaint.

Erika Bruderer receives daily e-mails and desperate phone calls from customers. She is suffering under the burden. But there is nothing she can do. She is also still waiting for the last installment of the purchase price.

Rental contract expires in February

The Tagblatt called the restaurant, which belongs to the husband of the former apprentice's daughter. He opened it six months ago. He said that the boutique was no longer doing well after the robbery. That's why he closed it. The lease expires in February.

Regarding the rumors that he faked the robbery, he says: "What kind of stupid people are jealous of me because I have several stores in the city?"

The newspaper also speaks to the former apprentice's daughter. They meet her in the boutique. The 26-year-old is returning a few bags of clothes to a customer. She says that she suffered a nervous breakdown after the break-in. But now she wants to give eight customers their fashion items back every day.

However, she and her ex-husband would never stage a break-in: "We would have shot ourselves in the foot," she says. The insurance company wouldn't pay them anything. The reason: they had changed insurers at the time. The store was uninsured for a few weeks. The robbery happened during this time. The victims would have to clarify with their insurance company themselves whether they would get their money back.