Thieves targeted a luxury second-hand boutique in Winterthur over the weekend, making off with a heavy crimson floor runner just days before the shop’s eighth anniversary, 20 Minuten reported.
Missing Landmark on Steinberggasse
The theft occurred sometime in the dark hours leading up to Saturday morning, targeting a 10-meter-long, roughly 17.5-kilogram strip of carpet positioned outside the women’s clothing store Lieblingsmarkt. Together with its matching twin, the pair of carpets spans the stone-paved entranceway along Steinberggasse, tipping the scales at a combined 35 kilograms. Store co-owners Petra Egger and Martina Kunz discovered the daylight robbery on Saturday morning, leaving them entirely bewildered by the sheer logistics required to lift such unwieldy cargo.
«Who does something like that? That is simply mean,» the business partners told 20 Minuten, noting the heavy textiles cannot simply be tucked away unnoticed. «That was no prank, that was intent.»
Sentimental Value Overshadows Financial Loss
While the stolen wool isn’t expected to punch a catastrophic hole in corporate accounting ledgers, the disappearance hits the founders on a personal and operational level. The bright entrance runner has served as the boutique’s primary visual anchor for years, drawing the eye down a somewhat tucked-away alleyway where passing foot traffic from Technikumstrasse might otherwise miss the storefront entirely.
Beyond physical navigation, the runner has earned digital fame. The crimson strip features prominently in daily social media postings, serving as the familiar runway backdrop where the team models rotating wardrobe arrivals for their Instagram community. Customers across Switzerland have come to recognize the scarlet pathway as an unofficial trademark of the brand, prompting immediate outrage among the store’s regular clientele.
An Uncertain Anniversary Celebration
With an official police report filed against unknown perpetrators this week, the owners are turning their attention toward the local community in hopes of recovering the property. Insurance prospects remain bleak, as investigators classify the incident as a simple outdoor theft without signs of a forced indoor break-in.
Despite the missing landmark, the boutique’s milestone celebration is moving forward. Sunday marks exactly eight years since the store first opened its doors. Whether the milestone toast happens with or without the original entryway remains an open question as the owners await any word from the public.
«We would naturally be very glad to get our carpet back,» Egger and Kunz said. «An apology would also be great.»
