It looked like shoplifting at first, just guys grabbing a few pairs of nice jeans and shirts before darting from a store. The crimes evolved from early 2007, though, to organized daytime thefts, after-hours smash-and-grabs and now armed robberies with customers and clerks nearby.

The culprits, dubbed the "blue jean bandits," have taken more than $1 million in designer clothes, shoes and accessories from store shelves to create an Atlanta retail theft epidemic that feeds a street-level need for high fashion.

John Spink/jspink@ajc.com (ENLARGE)

Atlanta Police Officer Y.R. Scurlock picks up items outside a shattered front window after a smash-and-graf robbery at Kintaro, a boutique on North Highland Avenue in Atlanta.

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Police say the bandits are probably three groups, about 36 people, plus a few copycats and helpers labeled with the same nickname.

The Atlanta Police Department's retail theft task force has more than 25 active cases, plus 50 more believed to be related.

Ginza, the latest boutique hit, was robbed on mid-June. The thieves are picky about product, but not location; they've hit wherever designer jeans are sold – Buckhead, Virginia-Highland, Little Five Points, Castleberry Hill, Decatur and Dawsonville, among others. Their haul ranges from a few hundred dollars to hundreds of thousands.

"A felony is a felony. Perhaps, in their minds, it's safer than selling drugs on the streets or robbing a bank at gun point," says Atlanta police Sgt. Archie Ezell, who heads the retail theft task force. "The impact on the community is almost as bad as sticking a gun to the head and taking."

As Adrene Boutique in Castleberry Hill prepared to close on June 2, a male customer stopped in, hunting for brand names — Rock & Republic, True Religion, Laguna Beach, all priced between $170 and $350 per pair. He left without buying.

He returned with two more men, grabbed three racks of clothes near the door, hopped into a gold Pontiac and sped away.

The vehicle of choice lately is mini-vans. Before, several witnesses and videos saw Toyota Avalons, Jeep Cherokees, Ford Tauruses and myriad SUVs.

The clerk could barely speak when she called owner Adrene Ashford, who also owns Pieces of Adrene in East Atlanta. .

The store reopened as usual, with most of its stock missing. The clerk took a few weeks off. The police patrol the area regularly, and nearby businesses cast a watchful eye on the door.

"Being a new store, having hot merchandise, being a popular neighborhood — I knew they were watching, waiting for an opportunity," Ashford says.

A boutique's business plan has to make room for trendy items walking out the door, Ashford says. But it's rare to see thieves so organized, widespread and fashion-savvy.

"Who's to say they're not rubbing elbows with me at a party?" she says. "For men, it's all about having a good pair of jeans. If you have a pair of $350 jeans on, you're in a certain category."

The earliest cases police attribute to the bandits were Macy's and Marshall's, but tastes have gotten tonier. Polo and Sean John used to be their go-to brands. Now they head to boutiques and Saks Fifth Avenue Off 5th for Red Monkey Jeans and Citizens of Humanity tops.

"It's a fashion statement, and they can sell it," says C. Dawson, a manager at Urban Fusion, a Castleberry Hill boutique that was hit twice. "If they could steal Benz's, they'd steal Benz's."

Atlanta police say the groups have a gang-like mentality that's part greed, part Robin Hood. Descriptions of the groups usually mention an older man and several younger people in their teens or early 20s, often wearing unremarkable jeans, white T-shirts and hats or sunglasses. An older man seems to organize the groups, while younger people grab merchandise. At least one woman has been arrested, too.

They wear what they steal, and sell it to their friends and family members at reduced rates, police say. Police say large quantities of stolen merchandise leaves the metro area, but won't say where it's going or how it's getting there.

It seems like easy, quick money to use as income, or to use for drugs or guns, Ezell says.

The thieves usually have guns, police say, but they're gone so quickly, they've never needed them. The robberies are getting more violent, though: Days after hitting Adrene Boutique, one group hit Brazil Fine Italian Menswear on Peachtree Road and Kaleidoscope boutique in Decatur.

Workers in both stores were hit with pepper spray. At Brazil, one person was punched.

It was a response to stores adding nighttime security, police say — thieves' only options were to get the goods during the day. Daytime violence could escalate, as "the chance of confrontation is high," Ezell says.

Atlanta Police have made 16 arrests, and have two warrants out. They spend more time watching stores, especially those hit multiples times, and instruct owners on how to deter crime.

Wendy Jackson, owner of Signature 4 Men on Lenox Road, says the changes haven't helped enough. Bandits hit the day the police don't come by. Even after investments in security improvements, an old gray Chevy truck rammed through the window of her store to allow six men in dark hoodies to steal $50,000 of merchandise. Jackson hasn't restocked her shelves, her insurance company won't cover building damage and she'd like to get out of her lease or sell the store.

"It's only a matter of time before they come back," Jackson says. "You can only afford to bounce back so many times."

And despite the name, it has evolved to more than just jeans. It's one-of-a-kind rhinestone studded hoodies, $12,000 belts, designer shoes. It's any trend spotted on the red carpet or at clubs. The single biggest heist so far nabbed $145,000 from a Pearle Vision store on Lenox Road.

It's the economics of supply, demand, fashion and crime, says Ashford, from Adrene Boutique. She calls it greed.

"Hot shades, hot jeans, hot boy," Ashford says. "Everybody wants to be a rock star."

Matt Dempsey and Mike Maciag contributed to this report.

Macy's and Marshall's: The Lenox Mall Macy's was hit seven times. The Marshall's store on Piedmont Road was his six times, and a Marshall's on Peachtree Road was hit once. The very first case was in January 2007, but the task force began recognizing a trend later in the year.

How to deter crime: Customers might notice new gates, updated video systems, buzzers to let shoppers in, plus reinforced racks, hangers facing different directions and more staff members than usual.