Retailer CEO laments an ‘epidemic’ of brazen thefts from liquor stores
Liquor store thieves are running rampant in Alberta to the point of threatening the viability of their workforce, says the chief executive of a large booze retailing chain.
Jamie Burns, who oversees Alcanna, the parent company of Liquor Depot stores, made the comments last month and before Calgary police sought public assistance Tuesday in arresting a couple suspected in high-value thefts from six of the chain’s Calgary locations.
Police say between Dec. 4 and Dec. 27, a man and a woman in their 20s entered a half-dozen Liquor Depot stores throughout the city, making off with expensive bottles of scotch and other whiskies.
Burns said that’s typical of one kind of theft being carried out against an increasing number of retail outlets in the province.
Others, he notes, have been violent holdups that have left staff members traumatized.
“The crime is killing us, it’s getting worse and worse,” said Burns. “At some point, nobody will want to work at these stores, it’s just awful ... it’s really an epidemic.”
On some days, he said, multiple company stores in Alberta are victimized.
Burns said police have told him there’s collaboration among the criminals and big money involved in the activity.
“This isn’t someone putting a mickey in their pocket when nobody’s looking, it’s an organized business,” he said.
“We’re into the millions of dollars lost.”
As of last September, Edmonton had recorded 5,000 liquor store thefts, a 300 per cent increase over 2018. In some cases, stores are swarmed by groups of thieves who brazenly stuff duffel bags with stolen booze.
Burns said Calgary liquor outlets have also been hard hit. In 2019, Alberta Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis acknowledged the dramatic increase in crime directed at liquor stores on its website, urging operators to employ video surveillance, deadbolt locks, alarm systems and the full strength of prosecution.
In the December Liquor Depot thefts, police say both suspects are Caucasian, the woman with long dark hair and glasses while the man had blond hair.
Anyone with information on the suspects is asked to call police at 403-266-1234 or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 1-800-222-8477.