Super Retail Group has flagged “industrial scale theft” at its Rebel stores as a key factor behind weaker annual profits, singling out Victoria as the epicentre of a worsening national crime trend.
CEO Anthony Heraghty told The Australian that organised crime gangs are targeting high-value sports gear and apparel, often in groups of five or more, and sometimes armed with knives or hammers.
He told the AFR that a handful of urban Rebel outlets in Victoria were experiencing “a disproportionate increase” in theft.
“This is not kids stuffing a T-shirt into a schoolbag. This is gangs taking tens of thousands of dollars’ worth of stock in one go, threatening staff, and then reselling online,” he said.
The company, which also owns Supercheap Auto, BCF and Macpac, has posted record group sales of $4.07 billion, up 4.5 per cent.
However, net profit fell 7.6 per cent to $221.8 million, as higher operating costs, an ambitious roll-out of new stores, and theft ate into margins.
Heraghty says half the margin erosion was linked to crime, particularly in Rebel’s 39 Victorian stores.
Australian retailers are significantly ramping up security measures
Super Retail Group has now joined Coles, Woolworths and Metcash in demanding urgent action be taken on shoplifting.
The Australian Retail Association estimates retail crime costs the economy $9 billion a year, with about 30 per cent of incidents occurring in Victoria.
“Victoria is the nation’s hotspot for retail crime but it’s on the rise across the nation,” Australian Retail Association CEO Chris Rodwell told the AFR.
Woolworths has already introduced changes in a bid to reduce theft.
A company spokesperson said, “We have a number of initiatives that we use, both covert and overt, to help reduce acts of violence and theft across our store network. These include the use of camera technology at the checkouts, double welcome gates, CCTV and a trial of gates to the exit of our self-serve checkout area.”
Rebel is taking a leaf out of Woolworths’ playbook and introducing gates and staff body cameras. But it is mainly pleading with police to take the increasing incidence of store theft more seriously.
“I can’t stop people coming in with knives,” Heraghty noted.