Days after the burglary incident at an IGA in Narre Warren North, its staff and nearby businesses are pushing ahead with business as usual.
On the night of Saturday, 13 September, three male offenders entered the supermarket on Oakview Boulevard around 6:15pm.
One of the males was armed with an axe and demanded cash from the staff member; the group made away with cigarettes and two packs of alcoholic drinks.
While no one was harmed during the incident and the other string of burglaries the group perpetuated, Anthony, a team member of the local IGA branch, said that the incident’s impact “was a lot to take in”.
“There was staff involved, young staff, so it was a lot for them to comprehend, and they’ve dealt with the matter as best as they could.
“They’ve been resilient, and they’ve been good when it comes to moving on,” he said.
As someone who had lived the experience of an armed burglary, Anthony added that he cared little for the politics of the situation of crime.
He acknowledged that when the police came to take statements, they did their jobs to the best of their abilities, but ultimately, “these guys who are doing these crimes need to be dealt with”.
“Police are doing their jobs, they catch them, and then a couple of weeks later they’re back out doing the same thing.
“It’s frustrating for them [police] and for us; we’re not the only store it’s happening to, it seems like it’s happening to everyone in the industry, so something has to give,” he said.
Not long after the incident on the weekend, the branch owner, Marco Ciavarella, announced on Facebook that “crime of this nature” had no place in the community, and that they would “stand against it”.
At the same time, he heralded the customers, locals and staff for their actions to keep one another safe.
However, this statement was soon followed by another, this time with Ciavarella announcing that the IGA branch would stop the sale of cigarettes, a difficult choice, but “the right one”, in a move to protect staff and the community.
To Anthony, he agreed that as a business move, the impact would be felt, but it came after the safety “for our staff and the people”.
When asked if he was worried about a ripple effect in the local and wider areas, he said that break-ins and thefts have occurred in the past, “purely around that cigarette factor”.
“So you know, we’re hoping that by not having that component in the business, we could try to eliminate it,” he said.
One staff member from the neighbouring Post office said that despite the store being closed, the incident’s impact is still being felt.
“I mean, it’s terrible, something like that with weapons, coming into the shop; I know people have stolen [shoplifting] before, but this kind of robbery is just all the way out there,” they said.
They also added that they feel similar incidents have become a little too common, but at the same time, they are at a loss for what should be done.
On the same page with Anthony, they said that they didn’t think the surrounding environment invited such acts, especially considering how far away the supermarket is from the general crowd.
“The environment isn’t the problem, to be honest, this area should be a very quiet and safe area because it’s away from everything,” they said.
Anthony, as someone who has lived in the local area for the last 40 years, experiencing an incident that involved a lethal weapon was out of the ordinary.
He said that the area is lush, not just with greenery, but with families and their children.
“The timing when it all happened, there were a lot of kids around and such, and it was disturbing, you know? That’s why we made the decision to go down the path we have,” he said.
