As businesses across the country continue to face an increase in retail crime, the problem is also being felt by Maritime retailers. Ivy Liu, the owner of Fluffy Bottom Babies, a Halifax children’s clothing store, says her staff was left shaken after experiencing a robbery at her store last month. “Two of them distracted my staff while the other two went to the back and came back to the front with a plan to take merchandise without paying,” she says. “What they took that day was over $500. But one of the individuals was in our store a few other times and have also taken merchandise that we did also catch on camera. So, the total amount that they have taken over time was over $1,000.” She says similar incidents have also occurred at her store’s Bedford location. “We’re just getting so frustrated. We have invested in security measures… There’s a lot of time and money invested to prevent it from happening, because it’s just not something that’s fun for businesses to (deal with),” says Liu. Meanwhile, a 14-year-old is facing charges after they allegedly stole hundreds of dollars worth of merchandise at Zumiez, before assaulting security guards at the Halifax Shopping Centre. “The youth left the store and was confronted by several security guards, at which point the chemical irritant spray was produced by the youth. And the security guards and one store staff member was contaminated by the spray,” says Const. Mandy Paquet, Halifax Regional Police’s public information officer. “It’s a problem that’s been on our radar. Retail theft is an issue that we’re well aware of.” Jim Cormier, the Atlantic director with the Retail Council of Canada, says he’s not surprised by these latest examples. “People don’t care. They know that they can just waltz into a store, they can steal what they want, they can threaten store employees, they can actually assault store employees and then waltz right back out,” says Cormier. “There are some changes that are happening, we’re finally seeing more police on the streets in Halifax, and in Moncton and in Fredericton and Saint John, but we need more.” Liu hopes anyone with plans to steal will think twice about its impact. “You are not affecting someone who is faceless. You’re actually affecting a family. You’re affecting local workers because all the staff that work within our business are all local and they’re relying on their job to bring food to the table to pay for their mortgage,” she says.
