Break in at Aero

[Edward]

Can anyone with access to Ken's VLJ posting of the list of stolen items reproduce it here? That would be helpful for those of us on the lookout. None of us wants to buy an Aero on eBay and have it turn out to have been stolen stock.

 

[Plumbline]

From Ken's post on VLJ:

"We had a break in at Aero in the early hours of this morning, Monday 10th July, around 2am at our factory on Huddersfield Street in Galashiels, around 110 new and used Aero jackets, mostly orders waiting to go out today, and some original vintage pieces were stolen.

Among the missing vintage pieces that folk from these parts might hear about are several restored relined USN Jackets, incl a private purchase Star Sports, an AN-J-3 and a 351stBG Type A-2 Artwork on back "Coup De Grace"

We'd greatly appeciate any reposts by members of other forums,

Together with the police, we are looking for any information which may help with their enquiries. If anyone saw anyone suspicious in the local areas, or sees any of our jackets for sale in any unusual places or anything at all that may be of help please contact us on holly@aeroleatherclothing.com."

also some additional ( quite disturbing) info from "2BM2K":

"There have been other robberies. First American Classics, then at Wested Leather on Sunday 14th May. These all appear to be professional and similar in style. "

looks like crooks might have recognized the value of leather jackets with Sundays being the favored day ....... eyes peeled guys

 

[Cooper A-2]

A precise listing, maybe photos, would help a lot.
Watch out flee markets , Souvenir Shops and other street markets in southern EU

 

[ButteMT61]

If Ken would get me an airline ticket to the UK, I'll scour the shops north to south.
But seriously, I hope there's a list at some point we can reference to try and help out...
I don't want to start suspecting every cat that sells a leather jacket on eBay or forums.

PS - hosts, NP, was expected...

 

[Monitor]

Problem is, nowadays there are many people who really, truly want a leather jacket by Aero but can't afford it, guys that are spending days reading about these jackets online, looking at the photos, etc., and I honestly doubt any of them will pass on a deal of a lifetime simply on the account that they might be buying a jacket that was stolen. People will be ecstatic at the chance to finally own an Aero and won't be asking any questions. So this better be cracked before they hits the market.

God knows how many stolen leather jackets some of us must've unknowingly bought - and sold. . .

 

[Harris HTM]

Problem is, nowadays there are many people who really, truly want a leather jacket by Aero but can't afford it, guys that are spending days reading about these jackets online, looking at the photos, etc., and I honestly doubt any of them will pass on a deal of a lifetime simply on the account that they might be buying a jacket that was stolen. People will be ecstatic at the chance to finally own an Aero and won't be asking any questions. So this better be cracked before they hits the market.

God knows how many stolen leather jackets some of us must've unknowingly bought - and sold. . .

This is what I'm also afraid of. Personally I have bought all my leathers brand new directly from Aero and Schott but I can imagine that many people would be tempted by a huge "discount". Really really sad for the Calders and the rest there, just a year after the settling of the previous large scale theft.

 

[Pio]

From now on people from Aero must be vigilant about any Aero jacket going on sale on ebay.

 

[wild_balls]

Horrible, I Will definitely keep an eye out in some dark corners!

 

[Sloan1874]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-south-scotland-40567627

 

[ton312]

Hi Holly, our sympathies for this awful event.
It would be really useful if you could publish an inventory of the items (model, type and colour leather, hardware and size) as soon as you can arrange it. Measurements could be useful too (if ofcourse available) in case the crooks remove size tags or something.

Hopefully we can help and track the jackets and the crooks down.
Harris

Sizes and styles, as much as feasible would be helpful. I can't imagine the perps would be stupid enough to post them on eBay or Etsy but they were stupid enough to commit the crime so who knows. My phone triggers me whenever an Aero is listed. I know I'm not alone! Would be great if we could help get these rotten bastards.

 

[thor]

Terrible news! I hope there are security cameras inside/outside and around the Aero building that can be accessed by the police to get a positive identification of the culprits. With inexpensive and easily installed camera technology so widespread these days, there's nowhere thieves can go to escape a camera lens!

 

[ProteinNerd]

I'm guessing there aren't a lot of CCTV cameras around the Galashiels that can track the escape?

 

[sweetfights]

That's just it Monitor- who seeing a great deal on eBay will automatically suspect stolen goods?

 

[Guppy]

That's just it Monitor- who seeing a great deal on eBay will automatically suspect stolen goods?

Currently, Aero's most common jackets are selling on ebay for around $400-500 used. This is down from $500-600 about a year ago. I believe that a combination of the Brexit-induced drop in the exchange rate, combined with an increase in supply due to the Grand Theft Aero sale earlier this year, accounts for the drop in prices.

This sale, unfortunately, will likely result in the going rate for used jackets being depressed even further. How low is anyone's guess, but I doubt that the thieves will get anywhere close to the $1000 per jacket that Aero valuates the loss at.

As well, it could very well result in Aero raising their prices. Whether they are insured against theft or not, it's a good bet that Aero's going to have considerable expenses and disruption to revenue as a result of the theft. Their insurance premiums may go up, they have a lot of disappointed customers who will either have delivery on their new jacket delayed, or who just lost a jacket that they entrusted to Aero for repair.

It's really a shame that this has happened, again. I hope that they catch the thieves and recover the stolen merchandise, and quickly. But someone there should also take some steps to increase security. I wish the company well, all the best to Holly, Ken, and the rest.

 

[Edward]

Without getting into the politics of it, the pound had its glory days in 2008 at USD2.20. The dollar slowly recovered, and by early 2016 was sitting at in and around USD1.589 to the GBP1.00. On June 24th 2016, the pound dropped to USD1.25 and has hovered around that mark ever since (at its lowest, it was USD1.18). That's going to account for a very significant shift in the dollar price on jackets - in GBP terms, the second hand market hasn't changed noticeably in terms of average prices.

Course, the weak pound against the dollar will bring up some costs for Aero (buying hides from the US), but on the flipside, a weak pound is good for exports, and good for US buyers, so hopefully that will help this be easier on Aero than had it happened when the dollar was weak and exports to the US harder to sell as a result.

 

[Monitor]

Good deals on Aero jackets are not unheard of. It doesn't happen often but occasionally, you can score one for a fraction of the cost.

I still can't forget this brand new King of the Road that was listed at a BIN of 99 Euros ($115). The jacket sat there for two or three days until someone finally nabbed it. I saw it too late and even asked why did they sell it for so low, and the dude just said it didn't fit him. Was it stolen? TBH, the possibility never even occur to me at the time, I was just sad I missed out on a dream deal...

 

[tropicalbob]

Without getting into the politics of it, the pound had its glory days in 2008 at USD2.20. The dollar slowly recovered, and by early 2016 was sitting at in and around USD1.589 to the GBP1.00. On June 24th 2016, the pound dropped to USD1.25 and has hovered around that mark ever since (at its lowest, it was USD1.18). That's going to account for a very significant shift in the dollar price on jackets - in GBP terms, the second hand market hasn't changed noticeably in terms of average prices.

Course, the weak pound against the dollar will bring up some costs for Aero (buying hides from the US), but on the flipside, a weak pound is good for exports, and good for US buyers, so hopefully that will help this be easier on Aero than had it happened when the dollar was weak and exports to the US harder to sell as a result.

Given the current state of affairs in Wash, D.C., especially with regard to the current isolationism, I wouldn't be betting on the strength of the dollar in the futures market.

 

[ButteMT61]

Let's not take this thread to the bad place. Please.

 

[OceanBreeze]

This is what I'm also afraid of. Personally I have bought all my leathers brand new directly from Aero and Schott but I can imagine that many people would be tempted by a huge "discount". Really really sad for the Calders and the rest there, just a year after the settling of the previous large scale theft.

Yeah, it's kind of like bicycles. Used bikes can be a great deal but unfortunately there is a very high chance it is "fenced" property. Serial numbers help somewhat. But with a jacket if there were such a thing it would be on a flimsy tag....

 

[Monitor]

Yeah, it's kind of like bicycles. Used bikes can be a great deal but unfortunately there is a very high chance it is "fenced" property. Serial numbers help somewhat. But with a jacket if there were such a thing it would be on a flimsy tag....

Not necessarily. Every Vanson jacket is embossed with a serial number, usually on the inside of a lining pocket. That's also the purpose of the key fob you get with every Vanson jacket; in case if someone nicks yours, you can at least keep a look out for the jacket with a matching serial number as the one on the key fob.
Problem with Aero's serial no. tag is that it's handwritten piece of paper that's barely sewn into the jacket. So easy to get rid of that most jackets sold online don't even have it. I've lost one just from putting a wallet into the pocket.