‘Over it’ after third robbery
THE owners of a busy Gold Coast convenience store say they feel like giving up their business after it was raided for the third time in four months.
Five hooded youths smashed their way into the Spar Express at Michigan Dr in Oxenford at 3.18am on Thursday. Once inside, they used crowbars to try and break open cigarette cabinets. When that failed, they made off with $600-worth of Rapid Antigen Tests.
Owners Duncan Harvey and Grant Hawker said the robbery followed two other break-ins in late October and early November.
“It makes you want to sell up and leave the business,” Mr Harvey said.
“It’s stressful and violating. I know it’s just a convenience store but it’s ours and we work damn hard.
“It’s our customers that make us want to stay. It’s the reason we are just fighting on.”
Mr Harvey said the pair faced bills for repairing the damage to the store, as well as the cost of the lost goods.
He said he feared the store’s insurance costs would go up after the raid, coming so hot on the heels of the other two break-ins late last year.
“First time, around midnight, it was just kids, they just took some chocolate bars and stuff,” Mr Harvey said.
“The second time was on November 4, about two weeks later. They completely damaged our old cigarette cabinet and got about $10,000-worth of tobacco products.”
Mr Harvey and Mr Hawker said they were heartened by the backing they received
from the community, with dozens of supportive messages left on their social media accounts.
They also praised the response of police, but said they believed there was little officers could do about juvenile offenders.
“It’s just like a revolving door, if police get to catch them, nothing happens,” Mr Harvey said.
Australian Association of
Convenience Stores CEO Theo Foukkare said their members were seeing an increasing number of break and
enters and shoplifting was at “an all-time high”.
“In a large number of cases, it is being driven by youth crime,” Mr Foukkare said. “... Our small business retailers are currently facing the most difficult trading period in their lifetime, so the increase in crime is only making it harder.”
A police spokesperson said investigations into the latest robbery were ongoing.
IT’S STRESSFUL AND VIOLATING. I KNOW IT’S JUST A CONVENIENCE STORE BUT IT’S OURS AND WE WORK DAMN HARD
CO-OWNER DUNCAN HARVEY