Dubbo IGA store shames shoplifters in hilarious posts
Tired of thieves who just kept “coming and coming” a shop owner has found a novel way to get justice.
Retail
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A small town supermarket-owner tired of brazen shoplifters has turned to using the store’s Facebook page as a means to find justice, and it’s prompted furious parents to drag their kids back to apologise.
Ashcroft IGA in Dubbo has thousands of followers online and is known for its savage takedowns of thieves.
Its owner, Ben Ashcroft, says the move was “instantly effective” in shaming petty criminals into either staying clear or making a belated payment.
This week the regional NSW store shared CCTV of a staff member dramatically vaulting over the counter to chase a thief from the bottle shop out onto the street.
He sprints after the shoplifter into the car park before stopping her in her tracks, with locals saying he deserved a pay rise.
“Ready. Set. GO......... Reaction time 0.02 seconds,” the caption read, accompanying the footage dubbed with Queen’s Another One Bites the Dust.
In another video, a man can be seen stuffing beer bottles down the front of his pants, drawing a tongue-in-cheek caption.
“Who’s this goof ball. Must have a lot of spare room down there to fit 2 long necks,” the post read.
The page, followed by more than 2800 people, pokes fun at those caught on the cameras and draws comments identifying the culprits.
“Anyone know muscles here. His (sic) also known for skipping leg day,” one read, remarking on the man’s physique.
In another post from November, a man could be seen wearing a knock-off rugby league polo emblazoned with the incorrectly spelt club name “Sedney Roosters”.
“Anyone know this grub. Spent more money on lip rings and bad tattoos than he spent in store,” it was captioned.
And in December: “Tis the season of giving. Some freshly printed banning notices to hand out.”
Mr Ashcroft said the idea grew from a staff Snapchat chain created to show workers who they should be looking out for a few years ago.
“We’ve got really good cameras so we used to film the shoplifters,” he said.
“It was more just awareness for staff.”
But after growing fed up with the paltry penalties handed out by the courts, and the same thieves who “just kept coming and coming”, Mr Ashcroft went public.
“I thought, ‘they don’t know that we know’,” he said.
“I thought I’d put a couple on Facebook to say, ‘we know you’ve stolen’.
“It worked instantly.”
Parents began “dragging” their children in to pay for stolen items and others came forward with offers to pay after being shamed by the pictures, he said.
Mr Ashcroft, whose family own supermarkets in other regional NSW towns, writes the captions himself: “that’s why there’s so many spelling mistakes.”
Mr Ashcroft said he knows the gravity of the offences shoplifters were charged with did not carry large penalties, and does not blame “frustrated” local police officers for the reoffending.
“This is just chocolate and junk food (they’re stealing). It’s not essential items,” he said.
But he said it was important to protect his business, adding that people who are doing it tough in the economic climate know they can ask for help.
Mr Ashcroft put the page’s success down to the “family” of customers, and staff who take it upon themselves to chase down shoplifters.
“The staff feel like a little team,” he said.
“They all know the business has got to work.
“We have an incredible team.”
Originally published as Dubbo IGA store shames shoplifters in hilarious posts
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