Tying down products and stopping selling high-end items are among the measures one shop owner has taken amid a rise in shoplifting. Julie Ruscitto had two hampers worth £50, containing prosecco, stolen from the counter of her Swansea shop in April. It was captured on CCTV and shared across social media, and the thief was ordered to pay a fine and compensation to the business.
Official figures show shoplifting in Wales has increased by 34% over the past year, with one trade union saying Wales faces an "epidemic" of retail crime. Julie, who has been running her gift store The Chocolate Box in Ravenhill for eight years, said the thief entered her shop on a Saturday afternoon, said "alright, love" then grabbed a hamper. "Then [he] calmly walked out the front door, closed the door behind him and then ran.
I was in shock that he could just do that just so easily." Julie and her colleagues have put measures in place to protect items from being stolen, including tying certain items to the counter and not selling high-end products. "We’ve had to put doors on the candle cupboard because people were pinching candles, CCTV, the front door opens with an alarm to let us know when someone’s in the shop and we’ve got mirrors.
"You've worked so hard to try and build a business up, what gives them the right to walk in and take something? "Whether you steal something worth £1 or something worth £100 it's still stealing at the end of the day." The largest increase in shoplifting was in .