One of the nation’s largest retailers is weighing up store closures and relocations amid an unprecedented crime spike in one Australian state.
Victoria is facing a pronounced surge in crime in 2025, particularly violent offences, knife-related incidents, and retail theft. The issue has prompted Ritchies IGA CEO Fred Harrison to even consider shutting up shop in several suburbs in the state, amid what he says are daily aggressive incidents.
It comes as both Woolworths and Bunnings reveal their staff are also facing regular abuse, often from individuals armed with weapons, including knives. Harrison said the situation has now reached “crisis point”, where he is seriously contemplating whether “we want to remain” in certain areas.
“Is it all round more profitable, safer if we just close and walk away?” he wondered in an interview with the ABC’s 7.30 program which aired on Tuesday night. In Australia, there are some 85 Ritchies IGA stores, and 52 of those are in Victoria.
Harrison believes the state is the epicentre of the problem facing retail businesses.
“I’d say 95 per cent of the issues that we are having today as a business are all in Victoria,” he said. “It’s getting to a point now where, at a number of our stores, you’ve got to question when leases come up.”
He said the explosion in violence and brazen theft is not just happening in supermarkets but across the board for major retailers.
“People are making decisions to exit the business because there’s that much theft that it is impacting their bottom line, and you can’t expect retailers to remain trading and lose money,” Harrison lamented.
Professor Michael Townsley, a criminologist at Griffith University, also warned that retailers will simply shut their doors if things don’t improve.
“The analysis that I’ve done is that it’s about 10 per cent of stores experience about 50 per cent of the merchandise lost,” he told the program. “If they can’t control that, they will close stores.”
In one shopping centre, almost 50 people were caught shoplifting in Adelaide in a single day. Source: 7 News
Retail crime has surged in the last two years. Source: 7News/Bunnings
Retailers ‘under attack’ in Australia
Last month, Victoria Police revealed it had arrested 19 people who allegedly shoplifted more than $10 million worth of goods in a coordinated scheme.
The syndicate allegedly targeted major supermarkets, stealing baby formula, medicines, vitamins, skincare products, electric toothbrushes and toiletries.
The Australian Retailers Association said it highlights the fact that shops were under attack. “The number of attacks has intensified this year. Retail crime has been an ongoing challenge for a number of years now,” association chief industry affairs officer Fleur Brown said.
It’s something Bunnings is attempting to combat across its network of stores. It has defended the potential use of facial recognition cameras as a solution to tackling the crime wave.
Bunnings Managing Director, Michael Schneider, told Yahoo News it would be a tool used among others to help curb retail crime. “Everyone deserves to feel safe at work or while out shopping,” he said.
“No one should be subjected to abuse, threats or physical violence simply for doing their job or going about their day. Alongside a range of tools including security guards, team safety cameras and training, we believe the responsible use of facial recognition technology can be an important tool to help keep teams and customers safe.”
Bunnings reports retail crime has grown by 50 per cent in the last two years, with 88 per cent of incidents involving violence or aggression.
Just this month, police uncovered one of the biggest retail theft stashes in South Australia’s history, including 1,700 unopened Lego sets, during a raid at a Royal Park home. The huge haul, worth an estimated $250,000, is the largest single recovery of stolen goods in a crackdown on shoplifting gangs.
Police have discovered a mountain of stolen Lego during a raid at a Royal Park home, uncovering 1700 unopened sets among 2500 items worth $250,000. Picture: Supplied/NCA Newswire
Crime surges in Victoria, retail crime rising around the country
Over the 12 months to March 2025, Victoria Police reported 627,268 criminal offences, a 17.1 per cent increase on the previous year. The state’s Crime Statistics Agency also noted a 15.7 per cent increase in overall offences in 2024, including a 19.4 per cent rise in victim reports and an 11.3 per cent jump in family violence incidents.
According to Victoria Police, youth offenders now reflect a disproportionate share of violent crime. Although young people aged 10 to 17 make up just 13.1 per cent of offenders, they account for 63 per cent of robberies, 46 per cent of aggravated burglaries, and 26 per cent of car thefts.
Knife-related crime is also a major concern. Victoria Police seized a record number of edged weapons in 2024, removing over 14,800 blades — an average of 40 per day — from the streets. Officers are on track to surpass this figure in 2025.
More broadly across the country, figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics show theft in the country climbed to its highest level in more than two decades last year, with police logging 595,660 victims of personal and retail theft — up six per cent on the year before. Nearly half of those cases, 45 per cent, took place in shops and other retail settings.
New South Wales recorded increases of just over 30 per cent for both threatening crime and violent events in a retail setting, while in Queensland, reports of shop-related assaults and threatening behaviour also surged by close to 20 per cent, highlighting the growing risks faced by frontline retail workers nationwide.
Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@yahoonews.com.
You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube.
