Boosting has been going on since the 90's in NYC. Back in the day i used to work on 34th/7th ave in NYC s selling leather jackets in a rinky-dink store about 500 square fee. The boosters came in groups some from Brooklyn some from uptown. They would boost across the street from Macy's and sell the stolen goods right across the street or on the streets. They would go store to small shops and sell Georgio armani , versace to the employees who worked there and to tourists on the streets ( those brands where hot back then) some boosters even started taking orders,. there were independent operators( not with the pack) and others who would roll with the pack. Each booster specialized in boosting a product. Some would only do designer clothing while others would lift electronics and they would sell to tourists on the street or store clerks working in shops, I even bought a nice Armani suite from them one day. They had figured out how to beat all security alarms in macy's and someone then figured out that you could return what you stole from Macy’s without a receipt during the holidays so boosters then started to return what they stole back to Macy’s and Macy’s would cut them a check for it. This was around 1995. Some boosters tried to lift stuff from the store I was working in and I had to go and stop them , one time we had throw down right in front of our store to get the leather jackets back. I even had to go run after a few. Macy’s security guards can’t do jack. The cops had more important things todo I guess. The boosters would grab and bag and just run out the door and into the train and vanish. They had some aluminum foil around the bag they put the stuff in so the alarms did not go off. They would go downtown. Uptown and after the city got to HOT they started going to the suburban malls. It was like a syndicate. I guess it’s still happening now.