A spike in shoplifting and abusive behaviour towards staff and customers in stores across the Warrnambool CBD have businesses on-edge.
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Pitstop Menswear owner Lea Watson said theft across the city was "rampant".
"Everybody is having a terrible time," she said.
"I lost $500 in a day and the worst part is you can't claim it. We're not a multi-national, we are a small family business so it hurts us even more.
"It's biting at the core hard. It's something we're finding very hard to burden and it might mean a staff member going.
"You can see it happening elsewhere - some of those bigger stores are down to one person."
Employee Tanya Clark said the amount of theft she'd witnessed in the past year was unprecedented.
"I've been working here for 12 years and it's never been as bad as it's been now," she said.
"We talk to quite a few stores about it, we all sort of look after each other and it's the same story.
"Sometimes it's the same people, but there's also been other random theft which has really amped up in the last 12 months.
"Sometimes it's just anything. We've had people just take stuff straight off the hanger and walk out."
A Warrnambool surf shop retail manager, who did not want to be named, said the problem was so bad it had to change its store setup.
"Theft is rife at the moment," she said.
"We're seeing so much of it that we're not going to put our racks out the front anymore because there's been a lot being stolen off that."
A Bargain Buys employee, who also did not want to be named, said in addition to theft, a rise in aggressive behaviour was also concerning.
"We've had to nearly go into lock down because of three teenage girls," she said.
"These teenagers are running amok. You get a big group of them and they intimidate our customers.
"We had one person turn on an older lady - this is what we're dealing with.
"It doesn't feel safe to work in this environment, I'll tell you that now. You either indicate they need to put it back and leave the shop or you're attacked.
"It's going to come to that - Warrnambool has been so blasé about all this."
Warrnambool police sergeant Tom Morris said he encouraged all victims of theft to report the incident at the earliest opportunity.
"Police will respond to all thefts no matter how small or large they are," he said.
"If businesses are being victims of theft they should contact the police at their earliest opportunity and we will do what we can to recover the items and hold those people to account."
Jessica Greenan
Journalist at The Warrnambool Standard covering both Moyne Shire and Corangamite Shire Council. Sometimes court. Special interest in all things environment.
Journalist at The Warrnambool Standard covering both Moyne Shire and Corangamite Shire Council. Sometimes court. Special interest in all things environment.
