23 Nov 2022

Glengarry Wines' stores hit 42 times with ram raids, robberies

From Checkpoint, 5:31 pm on 23 November 2022

One of the country's oldest family run wine retailers has had a belly full of ram raids on their business, releasing footage of the smash and grabs in a bid to spark some action.

Glengarry Wines has been hit 42 times, most in the last 18 months. General manager Liz Wheadon told Lisa Owen the business has decided to release some footage after the ram raid of its Jervois Road store which was the final straw because it was where the owners started the business. 

Additional security has been put in place including bollards and barrels  "but these guys are getting around it all". 

When the criminals got into stores they took only a relatively small amount of stock while causing a great deal of damage, she said. 

"It just seems to be the act of actually smashing into something, stealing something."  

Wheadon said the staff had become experts at cleaning up after the break-ins.

"It is very scary and making the staff very unsettled... The increased amount of shoplifting and anti-social behaviour in our stores coupled with the ram-raids is making the team feel unsafe.      

"It shouldn't be like that. They should be able to come to work and go home and feel safe and they're not." 

Wheadon recognised it was not a simple situation to change and council, police and other members of the community would need to work together to bring about a reduction in the number of criminal acts. 

"It's something the retail community needs."

It has cost the business $260,000 to do the clean-ups but there were also hidden costs such as increases in insurance premiums. 

However, the worst impact was the emotional toll on staff and the family who own the business, Wheadon said.