Strathmore IGA targeted by burglars four times in three years

A Strathmore supermarket owner was targeted again on Saturday morning, with burglars once again taking off with thousands of dollars worth of cigarettes.

Angelo Giannetta’s IGA supermarket has been broken into four times in three years. Cigarettes are the only thing that have been stolen each time. Picture: George Salpigtidis.

UPDATE: A Strathmore IGA has been hit for the second time in 10 days with thieves taking off with cigarettes around 4am on Saturday.

Saturday’s burglary follows a theft earlier this month, when thieves used a battering ram, an automated grinder and jimmy bars to smash and cut through the windows of the store in the latest incident, just before 5am on February 6.

Store owner Angelo Giannetta said the thieves always targeted one item.

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“They just stole smokes. Cigarettes, every time. Nothing else,” Mr Giannetta said.

Moonee Valley Senior Constable Al Heintze said two people had been identified and were wanted by police.

“They smashed the windows and have taken off with $15,000 worth of cigarettes,” he said.

The thieves left in a stolen white van and evaded police. The van was later found abandoned in Brunswick West.

It is the third break-in to a store on the small shopping strip since December, when two people armed with an axe smashed through the front doors of The Pizza Bar restaurant and Split Ends Hair Design.

An IGA in Kensington was also targeted on February 10, with burglars stealing cigarettes and cash.

Mr Giannetta said the robberies could have been prevented if permits needed to complete and secure the store exterior were approved by the council.

Mr Giannetta said running a business was hard enough without having to deal with constant burglaries. Picture: George Salpigtidis.

Mr Giannetta has worked in retail for 35 years and owned the store for 10 years but the latest break-in made him feel like giving up.

“I feel drawn out and tired. What’s the point? You question yourself, your motives and get a lot of self doubt,” he said.

Despite the damage to his store and morale, Mr Giannetta said the community had been “brilliant”.

“We’re trading, our shelves are stocked and we want as many people to come as possible,” he said.

The Pizza Bar owner Vas Karvelas said it was business as usual for Strathmore traders.

“It is what it is, we keep moving forward and we do not let these criminals affect our lives,” he said.

“They will be caught one day, one way or another.”

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