Off-premise liquor company Glengarry has shared a desperate social media post following 42 recent ram raids at their retail stores.
New Zealand’s oldest, and one of the largest, family-owned liquor retailers, with 16 stores (14 in Auckland), Glengarry says it has incurred more than $250,000 of damages, plus ongoing trauma to its staff.
“In the aftermath of WWI, 20-year-old Josef Jakicevich hopped off a boat from the battle-scarred Balkans with no more than a handful of change and a headful of dreams,” says the post.
“From a single store on Jervois Road, the tenacious, hard-working Josef went on to forge the family-run business that is Glengarry Wines.
“Four generations on, Josef would be in a state of total disbelief that children in a stolen car could have just driven through the front doors of that hard-won business on Jervois Road, causing, yet again, tens of thousands of dollars-worth of damage for a few hundred dollars-worth of alcoholic booty.”
Glengarry says it is now at 42 ram raids (around its 14 Auckland stores) with most happening over the past 18 months.
The cost of each ram raid is spiralling into the tens of thousands and insurance premiums are mounting for the company.
“Not to mention the loss of income while everything is put back together. We have had to seek out advice, install bollards, barrels full of sand, security grills, film on the windows, upgraded cameras, alarm systems – you name it, we’ve done it, in an attempt to stem this horrendous tide.
The post says while this out-of-control social situation is no easy fix, the company pays taxes but is ineligible for any government assistance because they have more than one store.
“Conclusion? This is an unsustainable situation that is devastating so many businesses. New Zealand cannot endure it. Something has to change. Words won’t fix it.”
Last weekend alone, thieves ram-raided five Auckland businesses in a single night.
In August Police Minister Chris Hipkins said of the 129 ram raids from May to August in 2022, nearly all involved people under 18.
National Party leader Chris Luxon announced this week that a new crime policy would see young offenders sent to the militarised boot camps for up to 12 months.
A new category of offender – Young Serious Offenders, or YSOs (covering people aged 10 to 17 who had committed more than one serious offence, including a ram-raid or other aggravated burglary, or a serious assault) – would be eligible to be sent to the camps.
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