VIDEO: Burglars steal designer handbags store owner says worth about $35,000

CARY, NC (WRAL/CNN) - Smash-and-grab robberies at luxury retailers have been making headlines in major cities in recent weeks.

It looks like the crimes may be hitting smaller towns as well.

Nicole Denny, a store owner in suburban Raleigh, North Carolina, said thieves stole tens of thousands of dollars’ worth of handbags from her.

Security video inside J’adore Boutique shows the two thieves in action.

After breaking through the front door, they immediately go behind the counter, swiping thousands of dollars of luxury handbags.

“Somewhere between $35,000 to $38,000 in handbags,” Denny said. Louie Vuitton, Gucci and Chanel are gone in 30 seconds.

This brazen crime is part of a wave of recent of smash and grabs from coast to coast.

California is among the states hardest hit with a rash of robberies.

Last month in the Bay Area, a group of thieves attacked a Nordstrom security guard before taking off with expensive merchandise.

“That Nordstrom that got hit is my hometown, so that hit hard for me watching that. It’s just a shame, it’s a shame,” Denny said.

Shesaid her store is a constant target by thieves, especially in recent weeks.

Customers are making thousands of dollars worth of fraudulent credit card purchases, money lost that she’s on the hook for.

The losses are taking a toll on her, a single mother of two.

“My son sat me down last night. He’s 15. He said, ‘Mom, I don’t like seeing you like this,’” Denny said.

“Fortunately, I can (survive) because I’m smart and I’ve put away for hard times,” she said. “Am I happy about it? Am I happy that I have to use my rainy day fund to supply criminal behavior so they can sell my bags on the black market and put money in their pockets?”

Police have not made any arrests in the crime.

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