Saint John grocer says theft attempts have become daily occurrence

A Saint John, N.B., market owner says shoplifting has become a daily problem.

Low prices and a variety of local options have made Dan’s Country Market a popular grocer to shop at for people living in Saint John’s north end.

The overwhelming majority of customers come in, fill their basket or cart and then head to the checkout to pay for their goods. While most follow the law, attempts of theft have become seemingly a daily occurrence for the small business.

The most recent example was posted to the stores Facebook page on Sunday. The video shows owner Daniel Cullen blocking the exit door of his store to stop a robbery attempt. A woman then proceeds to take out multiple packages of uncooked meat from her personal shopping bag (which the store does not allow shoppers to use until after they have paid) that she did not pay for before leaving the store empty handed.

Cullen says during store hours staff are collectively responsible for watching security cameras, with displays set up for staff to monitor at the cash, back prep room, and main office. Cullen says in this most recent example, he recognized the pair immediately thanks to a local group chat among north end business owners who share photos of people they have had “issues” with in the past.

“We’ll turn people away,” Cullen says if the recognize someone known to steal. “They’ll come in and we will say no, we know you were stealing at the store down the street, or you’ve been stealing in here before. We just kick them out most of the time, we’re not even giving them the opportunity to re-offend.”

While most thieves are caught in the act, there are some that slip out the doors before getting caught. Cullen says for a small business like his, a lot of extra merchandise must be sold to make up the difference.

“Surprisingly it’s never embarrassment,” Cullen says on the reaction of those caught stealing. “It’s just to like, ‘oh you got me’ and there’s no like, ‘oh sorry man like I’m just hungry.’”

“We have a wall and it’s for the worst ones, but I could paint my walls with the pictures.”

When asked about the police response to the issues, Cullen says local law enforcement has always been helpful but they are limited in their abilities to punish offenders. Outside of wanting to see changes to the court system to better deter instances like theft, he also says the root issues of addiction and mental health needs to be addressed.

A lack of police ability is why Cullen posts the security footage of shop lifting attempts to his social media.

“If you’re going to steal from me, that’s your consequence, right? I’m going to charge you too, but you’re going to get internet famous. Everybody is going to know who you are.”

Even local shoppers have a hard time understanding why people would try and steal from a local establishment in the first place.

“I think it’s hilarious that they’re even trying because none of them have made it,” says shopper Abigail Gillies. “It’s a small, tiny market, so it’s a little not understood why. Walmart, Canadian Tire, understood [why people may try and steal from there]. This kind of place, I don’t get it.”

Cullen says he gets messages from other businesses in Saint John regularly thanking him for his posts as the same culprits tend to also try and steal from other stores in the area.

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