Michael Hill has begun rolling out new fog cannons across its jewellery stores to combat robberies after a spate of incidents.
Chief financial officer Andrew Lowe told 1News the company's stores have "had close to 40 incidents over the course of the year", predominantly in Auckland. It's a huge jump from the usual five to ten a year, he says.
"And that's ranged from snatch and grabs, smash and grabs, and then burglaries and ram raids at night after hours, so it's something that deeply concerns us," Lowe said, adding that the problem is worse here than at their stores in Australia or Canada.
"I think like any retailer there's always incidents, (but) historically events have been much less frequent and probably less severe."
The Takapuna store's been hit so many times it's now closed until further notice.
In response, the company is rolling out a range of new security measures across the business, including fog cannons. At a demonstration of a new cannon at the Michael Hill in Auckland's New Lynn, Lowe said the devices are designed to "disorientate".
The jewellery chain’s been targeted by a string of ram-raids, snatch and grabs and smash and grabs, leaving staff upset and one store closed until further notice. (Source: 1News)
"Difficult to view where you're going and what you're doing, and just makes it challenging to continue to take product or cause more damage so it's a great demonstration of what that small investment can do."
Tessa Parker had a chat with Focus Digital Security Solutions' David Morrissey ahead of the demo. (Source: Breakfast)
The company will hope it helps protect staff and customers, with national retail manager Michael Bell saying they "have had a few people who've decided it's not for them based on the impacts that these attacks have had".
"It's disappointing these attacks happen in the first place but I can completely understand why they decide to move on.
"I grind my teeth each night I go to bed, and hope that I wake up and nothing's happened but unfortunately it's the world that we're in."
As well as the fog cannons, other new lengths taken by Michael Hill include more security cameras, more security staff, personal alarms for staff, high-pitched alarms, and a spray that sticks to skin and clothing intended to help police identify offenders.
Police have welcomed the introduction of crime prevention measures, and said they're working with retailers to improve security.
It follows an announcement earlier this month that police would be increasing patrols in shopping centres and malls.
Broken glass could be seen littering the inside of the business. (Source: 1News)
The company's also called for more work to be done to understand the underlying causes of youth crime.
"The impact on our teams, they're people going about their day, working in our stores, they've got loyal and valued customers and it's a really important matter for us from a customer and a team safety perspective," Lowe said.
"There is that sense of unease, just with the randomness of it."
Police said that although some offenders have gang links, there's "no current evidence that youth offending is being driven by gang affiliation or membership".
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