BARGAINS TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE; STORE SUSPECTED OF SELLING SHOPLIFTED MERCHANDISE.

Byline: Lisa Van Proyen Staff Writer

If police are right, bargain shoppers at Virgil's Fashions were literally getting a steal on clothing.

Detectives closed the store Wednesday after seizing about $500,000 in name-brand apparel they said had been shoplifted from high-end stores.

Two people, including the store owner, were arrested on suspicion of receiving stolen property at the shop in the 17200 block of Vanowen Street, said Lt. Al Corella of the Los Angeles Police Department's Organized Theft Unit.

Among the items police said they seized were Victoria's Secret lingerie, outfits from The Gap, Talbots, Bibis and Ann Taylor, Armani suits, Polo shirts and Mickey Mouse dress shirts from The Disney Store. Most items still had original store tags on them and were being sold at about 60 percent off, police said.

``These are organized theft groups that specialize in shoplifting,'' Corella said. ``They're bold. They take piles of clothing off shelves or hangars within seconds.''

Groups of three or four people would enter a store, distract clerks and dump clothing into bags lined with material that allows the shoplifter to exit the store without setting off alarms.

``They're so well-orchestrated and choreographed, and that's how they're able to pull it off so easily,'' Corella said.

The shoplifters then deliver the merchandise to the store and are paid from 10 cents to 25 cents on the dollar, according to the original store's price tag.

On Wednesday, some suspected shoplifters called into the store to market their goods, but nobody showed in person, and there were no further arrests, Corella said.

Detectives and merchandisers spent Wednesday sifting through clothing and identifying those stores that suffered losses.

At Virgil's Fashions, shoppers were offered such deals as a $230 BCBG skirt going for $70 and a $1,700 men's suit for $250.

``It's a paradise in here for a shopper,'' said Cory McNeley, an inventory control employee accounting for BCBG clothing who visited Virgil's Fashions. ``They're obviously very good at getting it out of our stores. Look, they've even got our hangars.''

A Van Nuys woman, who declined to identify herself, visited the store Wednesday and said she looked forward to the deals.

``I got a $240 Calvin Klein suit for $60. And I got Fubu jeans, regularly $80, for $24. My friend said it's got to be stolen or maybe counterfeit,'' she said.

But the deals were too good to turn down, she said. ``It was a steal, literally,'' she said.

The owner, Virgilio Munoz, 33, and his father-in-law, Efren Martinez, 55, were arrested.

Police said the suspects were each carrying a loaded handgun when they were pulled over in a Toyota Land Cruiser about 9 a.m., shortly after detectives searched Munoz's home in the 19700 block of Wing Foot Way in Northridge.

The clothing is expected to be returned to the merchandisers within a few weeks, police said.

CAPTION(S):

2 Photos

Photo: (1) Representatives from clothing companies look over suspected stolen merchandise at Virgil's Fashions in Van Nuys on Wednesday.

(2) Armani is just one of many labels found on clothing at Virgil's Fashions that was suspected of being stolen from other stores.

Tom Mendoza/Daily News

Map: Site of Virgil's Fashions