Article: Thieves cashing in on Beanies

In a more innocent time, Anna Huxtable would open a fresh box of Beanie Babies, dump them on a table in her store and go back to her primary business of selling flowers. She paid little mind as customers browsed the floppy animal toys.

These days, she keeps Beanies like Roary the Lion and Prance the Cat perched high on a shelf behind a counter. When customers want a look, Huxtable pulls the toys down herself, keeping a sharp eye from behind a mesh barrier she recently erected.

"This is what it's come to," said Huxtable, who co-owns Premier Flowers in Elgin. "We had $1,800 worth stolen from us. Now I have to keep them like this. We call them jail bars because we have to keep them under ...

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