The owner of the University Place store “Nu Lu Store and More” is charged with three counts of trafficking in stolen property in the first degree.
UNIVERSITY PLACE, Wash. — A Pierce County business owner is facing felony charges after a multiyear investigation uncovered what authorities describe as an operation trafficking stolen Lululemon merchandise.
Marra Carrissimo, owner of New Lu Store and More, a small shop inside a University Place jewelry store, has been charged with three counts of trafficking in stolen property in the first degree. The investigation involved University Place police, which is staffed by the Pierce County Sheriff’s Office, Homeland Security, and Lululemon Loss Prevention Team investigators.
Court documents state that investigators seized more than $100,000 of stolen Lululemon items through multiple search warrants of the business, although they believe the real number of stolen items is much more than what they were able to confirm. Investigators believe many of the items were likely stolen in cargo thefts around the world.
“It was very clear that this was an illegal operation of Lululemon product,” said Deputy Carly Cappetto, public information officer with the Pierce County Sheriff’s Office. “This business was getting away with it for quite a while, and they were caught pretty much with a full store of stolen product.”
The investigation began in 2023 when Lululemon investigators working with Homeland Security found evidence the business was selling hundreds, if not thousands, of stolen items. Carrissimo told investigators she was purchasing the merchandise from an unknown Romanian source online. They told her the items were stolen, and she received a verbal warning.
A year later, investigators found evidence she was allegedly selling stolen items again, prompting them to contact the Pierce County Sheriff’s Office.
“Essentially all the clothing had tags on them, and the tags are used to track the items that are coming off of shipments and whatnot, and all the clothes in this Lululemon shop, the tags were coming back stolen,” Cappetto said.
Court documents reveal that over a nine-month period, Carrissimo accumulated nearly $1 million in Venmo transactions alone, with the majority appearing to be for Lululemon items.
“I mean this is a very, very, very large case of pretty much black-market trafficking of high-end product,” Cappetto said.
The store remains open. Carrissimo, who is out on her own recognizance, declined to comment went KING 5 talked to her on Wednesday.
“I’m sure that there’s more layers to the onion in this situation, and there’s likely other stores that are going to be investigated for the same exact thing,” Cappetto said.
People who work near the store said they were shocked to hear about the allegations.
