One of New Zealand’s biggest sports retailers targeted by organised crime

The owner of one of the country’s largest sports chains says his stores are being targeted by gangs and repeat shoplifters, coordinating efforts to rob in an organised and aggressive manner.

Rod Duke, the managing director of the Briscoe Group, which owns Rebel Sport and Briscoes Homeware, told Stuff that groups have been repeatedly targeting his stores.

Briscoe Group managing director Rod Duke. Photo / File

Rebel Sport Coastlands store was raided by a team of four youths a couple of months ago, who then targeted the Petone store, he said.

Staff and customers were knocked over during the heist with the youths bolting out of the front door with stolen goods, he said.

“They rushed in, brushed past staff and customers without hesitation and bolted with stolen goods. They brazenly tried to escape through the front door,” he told Stuff.

“Staff and customers were knocked over. It was brazen and aggressive.”

Auckland, Waitako and Wellington were the most impacted regions in the country, but incidents had occurred across the nation, he said.

Duke said Rebel Sport wasn’t the only retailer facing the problem.

“It’s not isolated to a particular category of merchandise or store. It is widespread right through the townships and suburbs of New Zealand. It is a major problem.”

Rebel Sport outlets in Australia had also been targeted.

As well as impacting the stores financially, the targeted crime was traumatic and dangerous for staff and customers, said Duke.

Organised crime and gang activity are a large reason behind New Zealand’s retail crime problem, which costs $2.6 billion a year, Retail NZ chief executive Carolyn Young told Stuff.

“We have been saying for a long time that gangs are doing a lot of the retail crime.”

Addiction-fuelled theft, organised gangs and a small group of repeat youth offenders are three key factors driving the problem, she said.

When opportunistic lawbreakers find weakness in a store’s security system, they exploit it at multiple locations until the chance is closed off, said Young.

She said the systematic and organised crime is putting an extensive strain on the sector.