‘It’s not worth it’: Waimate retailer’s message to ‘brazen’ teenage shoplifters

A Waimate retailer wants to warn teenage shoplifters of the consequences of stealing after recently having to trespass two of them.

“It’s not worth it” says Suzie Paulan, who has owned the store, on Queen St, for five years.

In the past two weeks she had seen an increase in the number of 13 to 16-year-olds shoplifting.

“It seems to be getting worse compared to when I opened the store five years ago, and they are really brazen about it now,” Paulan said.

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“A couple of weeks ago two girls came in, took a $15 bracelet, put it in their backpack and walked out.”

She said she phoned police but they were unable to locate the offenders.

“Being a $2 store, somebody taking a $15 bracelet is a big hit for me.

“And yesterday [Monday] two others came in, and they were brazenly talking about shoplifting from the store and when they left the store they took some lucky dips I had placed outside, and I trespassed them.”

Paulan said the teenagers usually came into the store in “fairly big groups”, which made it harder to determine if someone was stealing something.

“They don’t understand the consequences if they’re caught, and it’s not great for me because they’re taking money from me.

“This also makes me more suspicious of people who come into my store and I don’t like that or want to feel like that.

“And it’s already hard to make a living nowadays and this does not make things easier.”

Paulan’s advice to the teenagers who shoplifted or tried to shoplift from her store was to “think about your future as this could ruin your life”.

“There are serious consequences if you get caught shoplifting, and it would be hard to find a job in retail stores.”