Just over two hours later, three men went into the Ngongotaha Bottle O store at 9.24pm.
Dhillon said a man approached a staff member and backed him into the corner of the store, telling him he had a knife, while two other men ran boxes of alcohol out of the store.
Dhillon said he had a background in kickboxing and trained his staff in the basics of the sport to protect themselves, but he was clear with his staff not to put themselves at risk.
"I tell them, if someone comes to rob you, don't do anything because we have very good security cameras and they will be found."
Dhillon said he had spent thousands on his security system, which linked all six of his Bottle O stores, including one in Tauranga, Fenton St, Sunset Rd and Otonga Rd. He said this allowed all staff members to keep an eye on each other and call police if they needed.
Rotorua police crime prevention manager Inspector Brendon Keenan said no one had been charged yet but the police's tactical unit was looking into the security footage and acting on information received from the public.
He hoped some of the stores that had been frequently robbed in the past few years might be eligible for a government scheme, announced in last year's Budget, that would see stores fitted with a crime-prevention fog-cannon device.
At-risk stores nationwide were to be selected to have the devices fitted for a cost of $250, as opposed to having to pay $2000.