People openly stealing in Greggs

[Xraytime]

Whilst I was in the queue for a coffee, 4 different people came in and took several sandwiches, doughnuts and drinks.

They were not together.

I feel like Greg’s need to put every behind the counter, I can’t see how it’s sustainable long term.

I see this at different Greggs aswell but there will normally be just one person. Today was shocking.

It is amazing how the ‘genuinely starving’ shoplifters in my local supermarket always seem to be aggressive men in the 20-40 age bracket who like to racially abuse the security guard. They don’t give a shit because they know nothing will happen to them. Meanwhile all the prices we pay go up to cover the cost.

Totally entitled scumbags- that's why I would have undercover folks out around popular pubs and similar places in some areas- and the girls doing the make up stuff- they are often going and selling online- anyone remember the story of the little team of them in the USA stealing to order for the big boss in her mansion with the big online operation? They busily recruited others into this.

It's nothing to do with the cost of things, people who steal and have low morals will nick stuff no matter how much it costs.

What has changed for one is that in the past security guards would've chased and tackled shoplifters and now they're not allowed to - and people know this. They also know the police are shite and will do nothing.

Also homelessness has increased substantially - LL's are getting out in droves due to being pushed out by increasingly mad rules, the population has increased substantially, ditto illegal immigrants, new social housing isn't being built etc etc.

There are tent cities popping up everywhere, one was recently dismantled in Manchester City centre but not before the council had to go through a lengthy court battle and get the bailiffs in. Obviously those people will just scatter and set up elsewhere.

It's a mess.

It’s not a victimless crime! The retailers just increase prices for everyone else to cover the cost of the losses through shoplifting. So the rest of us, already faced with insane increases in food prices now are paying even more thanks to the fact shoplifting is basically legal. I was reading earlier about a prolific shoplifter who had something like 455 offences and they still won’t jail him! No wonder more and more people just join in. We are now a low trust shit hole where everything will end up locked up behind screens.
Also see San Francisco where lots of retailers simply left because the police wouldn’t do anything about shop thefts. I believe Labour are going to change the law that Theresa May introduced to ignore shoplifting under £200. Let’s hope that’s a step in the right direction.

https://www.retailgazette.co.uk/blog/2025/02/bill-retail-crime-parliament/

Inflation. Power, food ingredients and wages all increased massively over the past few years.

Its normally called looting and expect to see a lot more of it.

The Co op's near me are easy targets too. I feel sorry for anyone who doesn't have the money to buy food - feels like we've gone back to Victorian times.

I have had people coming up to me asking if i like ham/cheese/steak etc and if I ask why they want to know they say they have had their mates 'on the rob' and are selling them cheap, I spoke to someone that works in home bargains about it all and she told me the most popular thing that people steal to sell on in that store is washing tablets!

But this doesn't make a lot of sense either really, because if anyone can walk out with whatever they like and there's no consequence, you might as well do that, rather than buy it cheap off someone in the pub or whatever.

When I was queueing at a busy Greggs in a train station a construction worker walked up past the queue, grabbed a box of doughnuts and walked back out. I never seen anything so brazen.

I get your point but I think there's a huge leap from buying some cheap cheese at a bus stop that you know has been stolen, to actually walking into the shop and stealing it yourself.

Plus, there is a one in a million chance that you would be the unlucky person who actually got stopped by police, got arrested, got a criminal record, got fired etc. If you're a normal, law-abiding member of society, this is a giant risk. But its not much of a risk for the low-life scum bags who shop lift - they're likely jobless, already have criminal convictions and not at all scared of police involvement.

Myself and my partner were in a Greggs sitting down eating a couple of weeks ago and several times different men just came in and helped themselves, someone told the staff and they weren't interested, or to be honest powerless to do anything. It's a joke. our local Coop is like this with kids, it's a free-for-all.

@hoodiemassive but that's not always the case by a long way - plenty of tosspots do it almost because 'they can' rather than they can't afford to pay .

Greggs will make an absolute fortune every day. To put everything behind a counter will mean much slower processing of customers and having to employ many more staff. They won't do that. It won't make financial sense.

Shoplifting has been allowed to get completely out of hand because it mostly goes unprosecuted though. People don't even care about trying to hide it any more. Why would they?

Not a very cheery clown, are you?

Ive seen shoplifters in our little co-op three times. I do tell the kids who work evenings. They've now put steaks in security boxes.

Maybe not a cheery clown but a spot on clown nonetheless.

I think quite simply Greggs policy is not to challenge shoplifters and shoplifters know that so they target Greggs.

100% this

My DD was in another shop (Greggs conpetitor) with a friend and a man came in and took an armful of stuff, shouted abuse to the room and left. Her friend was quite shaken by it and DD ended up having to take her home.

was he homeless? Unclear.

people do it because they can and they have no moral values. This particular shop is right next door to where a soup kitchen is set up a little later in the evening and donates their going out of date stuff to them.

Prices go up and those truly suffering from col crises suffer even more

I recall a local department store where thieves rolled out a rack of leather jackets into a van and drove away.

Perfumes were popular too.

Not a very cheery clown, are you?

Tbf I'm a supernatural mass murderer, it's not easy. Here's a selfie.

I once saw someone in a Co-Op shop steal the entire shelf of Sunday joints- just swept them into a bag and walked out. In the end they closed that branch- which is sad as it is quite a poor area with a lot of non-drivers.

I think it's a mix of lack of punishment, with few people being prosecuted, and desperation. The shoplifters themselves often aren't desperate- it's their customers buying their Sunday joint in a pub car park who are often struggling.

It's a joke

I was in the O2 shop recently and two blokes walked in and starting pulling the phones and ipads and apple watches off the displays. They were in there for a good 5-8 mins and if one wouldn't come off, they'd stand and yank really hard till it came.

Not only no shame, but no sense of urgency.

The staff did nothing and said it wasn't worth calling the police. This was in an affluent and busy town centre.

Absolutely ridiculous that we are now so submissive and wet

I'm surprised shops haven't taken up the Argos method.

I work in Leeds and it happens all the time. They are not going to risk anything by trying to stop them. They barely even look up anymore.