Theft Triggers New Security Measures For Local Grocer

Gordon Dean is one unhappy grocer.

He runs a small grocery store chain, Mike Deans Local Grocer, that was started by his father. He has stores in Chesterville, Bourget and Sharbot Lake, as well as two in west Quebec.

The grocery business is a high volume, low profit margin enterprise, which makes it easier for companies with buying power like Sobeys, Loblaws, and Wallmart to turn a profit, than it is for those in the niche independent grocery sector.

Still, Mike Dean's Local Grocer has thrived in Sharbot Lake since it took over a failing location in 2013, and received a boost over the last year with beer and wine sales, which, according to Gordon Dean, brings up to 10% more foot traffic to the store.

Theft is always a problem in retail, and Mike Dean's is no exception. There are cameras in the store but with constant traffic it is impossible to prevent it entirely.

In recent months, Gordon Dean and his staff have seen an increase in theft at all his stores, with the Sharbot Lake being no exception. But one individual case has made him take new measures.

“With our cameras, we saw that one man was taking up to $500 worth of meat at a time, certainly for re-sale, and then coming back again for more. With our profit margin we need to sell thousands of dollars in groceries to recover that loss,” said Dean.

He called the Frontenac OPP, and thanks to the video footage that he had, the officers were able to identify the man, and he was arrested and charged.

But he came back nonetheless, adn stole again.

So, Dean has installed gates in his store for the first time, in all of his stores.

“We had to make a difficult decision today that will make some of our customers upset, and rightfully so,” reads a note posted at the front door of the stores, and on the company website and social media pages.

“99.9% of our neighbours and community are wonderful and trustworthy people. Unfortunately 0.01% are not. Like most other retailers we struggle to be able to appropriately handle these problem individuals within the very limited means that the law allows.

“At this time, we have had not choice but to install alarmed one-way traffic barriers at our store entrances and ugly chain lockups at any cash lane that is closed.”

Dean said that the new measures will not prevent theft in his stores, but will at least make it more difficult and easier to track.

“Theft is a problem, and it has gets worse when money is tight all around, like it is now,” he said.