Shoplifting had occurred at the store before but nothing this serious, she said.
Staff members were initially scared by the incident but continued to work and felt better after police had assessed the scene.
"We feel fine now that everything is under control."
Havelock North Business Association president Milton Naylor said he was upset to hear of the incident and would do everything in his power to make sure it did not happen again.
"It's devastating when things like this happen," he said.
"At the end of the day my goal is to unite all businesses to make sure things like this are on the high priority list."
All businesses in Havelock North had a close relationship and a strong security network but this showed that more needed to be done to protect each other.
"We've got to step up and look after our own back yard. It's definitely highlighted there's a need for lifting our game a lot more," he said.
"A friend of mine that's a dairy owner here in Havelock North said petrol stations, dairies and bottles stores have been done over quite extensively in Auckland and because they've been highlighted people have been working their way out of Auckland and targeting quiet places.
"We need to work out who we are dealing with and why they are doing it."
Mr Naylor will be talking to police and businesses to work out better ways of ensuring similar incidents do not occur in the future.
The store had CCTV footage which has been given to police to help with the investigation.
No arrests have yet been made and police are continuing their enquiries.
