THEFT SCOURGE
‘I am very angry and very frustrated at the situation,’ says owner forced to close sports store due to break ins
Local officials have expressed their concern over spiralling theft in the area
A SPORTS store owner has been forced to pull down the shutters after a spate of break-ins.
Mandy Johnston, who owns paddle board shop Sea Gods in White Rock, British Columbia, says that theft has pummelled her business - leaving her no choice but to shut up shop.
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“I am very angry and very frustrated at the situation,” she seethed.
Shocking security footage snapped the first of a number of break-ins last spring, Global News reported.
The recording shows a brazen suspect using a hammer to smash a display window and snagging a pair of sunglasses.
After subsequent incidents of theft and a crippling drop of 10 per cent in sales, Mandy chose to close the store doors permanently.
She continued: “We are a small family business.
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"It was really heartbreaking. Now I have to tell people we are online only, we don’t have the showroom anymore, which is really disappointing.
“Financially, it’s about $2,000 to $3,000 for every broken window. And it’s not just about the money, the insurance implications, dealing with strata…it’s the extra loss in productivity.”
Another weapon-wielding criminal tried to gain entry to a hair salon next door.
Local officials have expressed concern over soaring levels of theft in the area.
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“It’s an absolute shame but unfortunately it’s becoming all too common,” Surrey-White Rock MLA (Member of the Legislative Assembly) Trevor Halford said of the store closure.
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“Businesses are getting vandalized at a rapid level, and they’re having to absorb the cost of that and it’s completely ridiculous.”
'IT'S THE THEFT'
It comes as staff at a Macy's store have pointed to soaring retail crime as the prime reason for multiple store closures.
Employees at the retailer in San Francisco's Union Square neighborhood say rampant shoplifting is to blame for the retailer closing its doors at the Bay Area outlet.
“It happens every day,” Union Square employee Steve Dalisay told the Standard.
The worker added that wallets and boxer briefs are the most snatched items, while at least four blazers are scooped by thieves daily.
“I think there just needs to be leadership,” Dalisay said.
“The mayor just needs to say we won’t tolerate this in the city.”
A second employee of more than a decade said spiraling theft was the main reason for multiple store closures.
“It’s the theft, and that people aren’t coming in,” said the worker.
Meanwhile, Target closed nine stores in months in major cities like New York City, Seattle, San Francisco, and Portland at the end of 2023.
The mega-retailer said that the closures came after the stores experienced high rates of theft and organized retail crime.
However, a new CNBC report casts doubt on Target's claims that the stores became too dangerous to keep open.
The news outlet investigated crime rates in areas where the store closures took place by looking at crime statistics and 911 call data.
The data was from January 2021 to September 2023, when the stores closed.
Records showed how many times police were called to the Target stores, if they arrested someone due to theft, and whether a theft report was filed by cops.
Based on the data the reporters collected, CNBC found that the crime rate was higher in other nearby stores that were kept up and running, compared to stores that were shut down.
Just one of the nine stores that were closed, a Pittsburg, California location, saw more crime and was visited by cops more frequently than its closest similar store, the analysis found.
CNBC reported that Target most likely kept the other stores running because they were located in busier areas, despite higher crime rates.
The news outlet noted that police departments may be better funded due to higher tax bases in those areas, and the stores are bringing in more money due to shoppers spending more.
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ONE CITY STANDS UP TO SHOPLIFTING
Retail theft costs retailers hundreds of billions of dollars annually — and continues to rise each year, so officials in one city are trying to fight back.
City council members of Aurora, Colorado voted to heighten existing anti-theft measures in the hopes it would help protect local business owners.
Havana Business District in Aurora, Colorado, is one of the biggest targets of retail theft in the country, according to CBS News.
One business in the area, Province Car and Dog Wash, was targeted by thieves four times in the last six months and experienced almost $70,000 in damage, the outlet reported.
According to the city, there has also been an increase in "dine and dash" theft offenses, especially in this area.
The city has proposed a mandatory minimum jail sentence of three days for these type of defrauding offenses, in which the perpetrator owes $15 or more to a dining establishment.
The minimum for retail theft resulting in a penalty of a three-day jail sentence has also been lowered from $300 to $100.
The measure also increased mandatory jail time for repeat offenders.
The mandatory minimum jail sentence will be 90 days if the offender has already been convicted of retail theft before.
If they've been convicted at least twice for retail theft, the minimum sentence would increase to 180 days.