Philly Show Theft - Be vigilant
 

Just heard that at least two dealers who set up at the Philly Show got money and/or cards stolen. Their cars were broken into at either hotels or local restaurants.

This fits the pattern of other show thefts in 2024. I am sure guys do surveillance and then hit when the opportunity arises. Be vigilant, travel with others, and mix up your routine in order to not become a target.

Please be safe head on a swivel.

Show reports are turning into local crime news reports...Sad.

Philly thefts
 

Gentlemen- sad news, agree with all. Trent King

There was a similar robbery in Sept too at the Philly Show, correct?

Terrible this is becoming more and more common. People really don't have any sort of common decency anymore.

As far as I can recall they still haven't caught the criminals that hit Ash at the Dallas Show a few months ago.

That is correct. No doubt this is a trend.

One Instagram commenter said they were hit at the Philly show two years ago.

They also suggested that this is the 15th time this has happened.

I do not know if that is hyperbole, but I know of at least 4 instances in the last 18-24 months.

If this keeps up, pretty soon there won't be a Philly show.

Sadly, it's not just the Philly Show. If this keeps up, there won't be any large multi-day shows.

The location of the Philly show is a very strong, financially and safe area. It is the home of high wealth employment (pharmaceutical, finance type jobs etc). I think one issue and opportunity is (which makes it a good location too) is access to major roads (Pa turnpike and 422) to travel to Northeastern locations as well as within 40 minutes to major airports. We have two major cities Philly and Reading which within 40s minutes away, which could provide access and people looking for liquidity.

They do partner with the local Township’s police department in the building and I see them at exits too. It is unfortunate, but considering the publicity we hear and centralized location of valuable and generally large sums of cash and generally I do not see this slowing down.

If people are going to keep valuable inventory in the trunks of parked cars this will continue forever.

Maybe one reason that things keep happening at this show is that the venue is kind of out in the middle of nowhere for such a big event, primarily an industrial type of area. Although it’s not that far from airports, major highways, etc., I don’t recall there being even a single restaurant, gas station or hotel for at least a couple of miles in any direction. So unless you are there specifically for the show, very minimal amount of people passing through this targeted area. Does this make it more desirable for thieves? I think, maybe…..

Fun fact: that is tnr venue where the National Dog Show is located (shown on Thanksgiving).

When it was in the casino I was happy to drive down. Two vices in one stop.

There are two hotels, several restaurants a BJ's, a Home Depot, a Target, a massive movie theater and numerous other smaller shops on the same property as the show. There's a slew of restaurants and a WaWa for gas right across the street from the west entrance. Yes it used to be an industrial park but that was LONG before the show moved there.

Phil, the show is basically in the same shopping center as a Lowes, BJ's (with gas), and Target. In addition within about 1 mile is a PJ Whelihans, Buffalo Wild Wings, Wendy's Jersey Mike's, Wawa, Uno's, and Bob Evans. In addition, a lot of the industrial looking buildings in that area aren't industrial at all. They are business like gyms, trampoline parks, arcardes, etc.

Unfortuantely, extra security at the show I don't really think is going to do much for this type of theft. This theft occurred outside the show property. How is security suppose to track if someone is being followed especially once they leave the venue? Folks really need to be proactive about protecting their stuff and making it less attractive to a theif. Use the drive thru, make sure you have a full tank of gas before going to the show, take your stuff into the hotel or restaurant, etc.

The other thing I've noticed is I'm seeing a lot more large transaction being flashed around. By this I mean laying out the purchase on top the display case. This year I've spotted mulitple purchase of $5-25k in cash being laid out on top of the display case. it's quite attractive to see stacks of bills completly covering a display case. If I'm seeing that, I'm sure a theif is also seeing it. Along those same lines, dealers need to do a better job securing their cards. At this past show I was making a deal and the dealer left a couple thousand in cards sitting next to the display case while he looked around the booth for a calculator. I also can't count the number of times I've seen collectors put their carrying boxes either on the floor or on a display case and then move 10 feet away to look at something else. Simply put, if you make yourself an easy victim, at some point you will become one.

Wow, I must be going to a different Philly show than everybody else. I was just there in September and don’t recall seeing anything like a shopping center in the same lot. Was also there last December and didn’t see anything then either. Maybe the direction I was coming from, does that make sense at all?

If you enter from the east you come through a park and that's about it, but it's a HUGE complex. It's a Lowe's not a Home Depot and some of the locations I mentioned aren't noted on the map, but this is all a giant shared parking lot. map is oriented with the bottom just about due east.

Can’t tell from the map that, like you said, doesn’t show any of the businesses mentioned, other than the Lowes. I would be coming from my hotel straight down Station Ave all the way to signs for the Expo Center. I don’t see any other food or retail stores in between. Maybe if I went beyond the Expo Center and kept going. Anyway, I think where the dealers/collectors park is mostly out of public view unless you are attending the card show. Keeping in mind, these are at least semi-professional thieves, not teenagers pulling pranks. Over three days they can watch what time some of the highest profile dealers get there in the morning and leave at the end of the day, what direction they come from and head towards, etc. The trend now is heavily towards robberies taking place outside the show venue with calculated hits at local establishments if not the parking lot at the venue. This avoids the most likely chance of getting caught via security cameras.

Station ave, coming from the east is empty. But just because they're not noted on the map doesn't mean they're not there. The map shows, Lowe's the Hilton Garden Inn and the movie theatre which were all mentioned in my post. Not sure why Target and BJ's don't make the cut. PJ Welihan's is just represented by the knife and fork symbol and the Hampton Inn is also missing. The myriad smaller shops are understandable in their absence but there is a lot going on there.

While there has been at least one theft in the parking lot, what we've been hearing about has nothing to do with the location of the show. Loading your car and getting followed somewhere and then hit makes the actual locale of the show pretty irrelevant, at least to my way of thinking.

The side parking lot that many dealers use is definitely a little secluded, but from the main entrance of the show a number of the businesses are easily within view.


However my point was this is hardly "The middle of nowhere" and I stand by that as everything I listed is within very easy walking distance of the show. The scale on my map is 1" = 500 feet

Since this has been something that’s happened more than once, I fully expect a visible police presence in the parking lot during/after the shows going forward. Probably should be something that happens at most shows anyway.

Maybe that would deter someone from hanging out and waiting for a person to follow.

Maybe hired security but to waste real police/tax payers money on this would be silly IMHO.

There were real police inside the show throughout the weekend. I would guess that is paid for by the show and not just provided by the local area at cost to the tax payers.

There is at least one police car parked outside the main entrance every time I go through those doors.

Sad fact of society. Many people out there looking to commit larceny if they get half a chance. This is low hanging fruit for them.

Very common for on duty police to be at largely attended events…

But at this point, promoters probably need to hire security/off duty etc