Thief hits Otaku Sekai, Japanese Manga culture, movies, comics biz
WORCESTER — The owner of the trading card store that opened recently on Park Avenue in Worcester described the theft of hundreds of cards worth as much as $5,000, as a breach of trust, a betrayal of the community that collects and swaps images of imaginary beings based on Japanese Manga culture, movies and comics.
When the owner of Otaku Sekai, John Le, reviewed his security tapes Saturday, Oct. 11 after an employee alerted him that a binder packed full of $10 trading cards was missing, he saw a man dressed in black whom he believes is the suspect.
“He had been in here before. Our customers recognized him. We think he’s local,” Le said. He believes the man had entered the store in the past to learn where merchandise was kept and how the store operated.
The man, wearing a black hoodie, was recorded on security video looking through a binder on a counter, removing cards from plastic sleeves and stuffing them in the pocket of his hoodie. The man can then be seen on the video picking up another binder and walking out of the store.
Worcester Police confirmed the reported theft occurred around 4:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 11. Police are seeking anyone with information about the identity of the man to call the department.
“The man stole from us, but he also stole from the children.”
John Le, owner of Otaku Sekai
It was Saturday afternoon, Oct. 11, one of the busiest for the Japanese-themed store. Le said the front room, reserved as a play and event space for the community, was full of people enjoying the free televisions for their video games, the analog board games, the comfy couches and Japanese snacks.
The four staffers working that afternoon were helping the customers who crammed the aisles look over the merchandise at the rear of the store. Staffers were pulling out binders filled with cards and helping customers pick out just the right plushie, keychain or figurine.
One employee was pulling the binders holding the cards from the shelf behind the counter.
“We keep the cards in the binders because they all don’t fit under the counter,” Le said, explaining that customers are free to handle the binders and look through them as they seek that perfect card, the one missing from their collection.
The man in the black hoodie was looking through the binder that holds cards valued at under $10. The man methodically slipped the cards from their sleeves, stacked them and then slipped them into his pocket.
At one point, the man at the counter heard the suspected thief ask a woman and her child whether they had finished with a specific binder. When they confirmed they were done looking through the book, the man picked it up and walked out of the store. It was the red, $10 binder.
The employee was stacking the binders, counted four and missed the fifth binder.
“That’s when we knew,” Le said, explaining that because customers sometimes bring their own cards in to sell or swap, a man walking through the space carrying a binder did not arouse suspicion. It took the store,10, maybe 15 minutes to notice the theft, he said.
“He walked out with my whole inventory for that price range,” Le said. He explained that he stocks a lot of less expensive cards to ensure children coming into the store and their parents can afford to purchase an item; that there are cards that they can afford based on their allowance or salaries.
“The man stole from us, but he also stole from the children,” Le said. Those cards, he said, sold to youngsters could have made 500 children happy.
Sunday, Oct. 12 Le and his staff of six employees spent the day looking through merchandise to determine what is missing from the store.
Le speculated that the thief targeted the less expensive cards as a way to sell them quickly.
A group of three families who drove to the store from Fitchburg, were disappointed to find the door locked and a sign on the door alerting customers to the theft. The sign includes a picture of the suspected thief.
“We’re disappointed,” said one of the dads. His friend said they would now find something else to do in Worcester, maybe go to a park, “and look for him,” he said, pointing to the image on the sign.
Le said he spoke with other trading card retailers, as well as customers. All, he said, would be on the lookout. Some customers offered to donate their own duplicates to Le to help him regain his inventory.
Le opened the Worcester location in August after the space at the Auburn Mall where he had spent three years was claimed by a different renter. He and his wife and co-owner, Phuong Do, found the Worcester location when she insisted they go to the neighboring Altea Café, for a snack.
“She was pregnant and craving something from Altea Café,” Le said. As they walked into the building they saw the “For Lease” sign and took it as their sign to stop looking.
“We made this our home,” Le said. (The couple are the proud parents of a baby girl just a few weeks ago.) The establishment boasts a community space with long tables where people can sit and play video games, a comfortable corner, a snack area and the store merchandise is in the back. The space is open to all — kids hang out after school and the community can bring their electronics and chargers to the store for camaraderie, fun and warmth.
“We provide the space,” Le said. Growing up in Worcester loving Japanese culture, animation, videos and Pokémon, Le said he did not always feel safe. As an adult he strived to create a space where people who share the same interests and the same hobby could gather. His space serves that purpose.
But the theft feels like a betrayal of the trading card community, of his customers, of his employees and of his trust, he said.
“Everything we make goes back into the store,” Le said, explaining that all their earnings have been reinvested in Otaku Sekai. “I’m not a corporation. I can’t just expense this theft out. That theft was out of our pockets.”
