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.

i Was in Clarks and was chatting to the sales woman about them not having security guard. I noted they only have left shoes on display so that must put people off - she said it doesn’t and there are always people coming in and grabbing shoes.

Wrong thread !

Broken window syndrome. If the smaller things are ignored the bigger things will follow. And of course the opposite is also true. If you fix the small things, the big things won't happen so much.

I think if I had a small shop or a place like Greggs etc. I'd check out the feasibility of self serve kiosks like they have in Japan. Select your item(s) heated or not, pay and out it pops. I don't know if that would work, but something where you order and pay ahead, and pick up down the queue or something, might work. Food is on display for "looking purposes" but behind the counters. Sorry I obviously haven't thought it through but you get the idea.

A young girl, in our local independent bakers, told me people come in and literally clear a shelf of sandwiches. She pointed them out to me in the street! She appeared to be alone, behind the counter, and was watching a couple in the street anxiously.

Greggs does appear to be an easy target. I avoid them now because of the prevalence of aggressive shoplifting witnessed in different outlets in different cities. I don’t feel personally safe as a consequence.

I feel the company is making fools of people who do pay.

Agree with PP about ordering and paying via an app before you can collect the goods.

I've seen it happen in greggs too; shop staff challenged also.
The person looked vulnerable

Politicians obviously won't come right out and admit it, but they and the police have completely lost control of much of the crime in the UK now, to the point where much of it is de facto decriminalised.

When able to display sweets and chocolate at supermarket kiosks, I saw a 3/4 year old boy walking in whilst his chav mum was outside talking to another woman. Boy took three bars of Milkybars and ran out. His mum laughed at him and rubbed his hair in a manner like well done.

There is an absolute epidemic of it in the Gregg's in my local high street. There is a Costa's opposite this Gregg's, and in good weather I often sit outside it. I have witnessed so many people being chased by members of staff out of the shop. Also, when I've actually been in Gregg's,I've often witnessed people sauntering in and helping themselves to baguettes and sandwiches from the chiller cabinets. I've noticed that it's often the same people doing this time and time again. I do hope Gregg's doesn't go the same way as some shops in my high street,i.e. out of business,due to the prolific shop lifting, because I do like Gregg's!

Some charity shops do this too

People even steal things from charity shops. My son was working alone when someone was clearing the rails and handing the clothes to someone with a suitcase. The people in the shop opposite ran over, and they scarpered.

This is why it pisses me off when I go to a Lidl and they have these little glass flaps that you have to put your receipt on for them to open. They have never opened for me!!! It is a little thing but boils my piss that because of thieving scum we have to go through so many obsticles to get out!

I went to look around Sainsbury's this morning as I was too early for work and had to ask them to let me out as I had not bought anything!

When I worked in retail we were told not to challenge thieves, who did come into the shop, as it was too dangerous for the staff. We were allowed to telephone the security guards for the shopping centre but in practice by the time they would get there it’s usually over.

Much better idea. Food on display is just too tempting for thieves.
Agree that police need to clamp down on this, and phone snatchers as well, which is endemic in my area (reasonably decent part of London). There are places I won't take my phone out my bag/pocket now or if I do I make sure I am well clear of the roadside as it's mostly done on scooters and ebikes.

In short...Greggs don't care. I work in a branch, we can report 10+ thefts a day but the company have done absolutely nothing to attempt to reduce it. 6 members of staff have been pushed/kicked/scratched/spat at so now we don't bother to confront - not worth the risk. Security costs money and as much as Greggs like to boast about their profit, they aren't interested in putting any of it back into shops to benefit staff teams.

We even have a guy who brings his toddler daughter in with a double buggy and loads up the second side with drinks before doing a runner!

Addicts do this all the time, they don't even run.. even say excuse me to the people queueing as they get to the shelves.
It stings a bit that the rest of us have to pay but I wouldn't want their life

Unfortunately, the lack of policing is a lot of the cause of this. Police don't come to shoplifting anymore (or much else for that matter).

This is a slow creeping anarchy.

I was in Birmingham last summer after going on holiday with family, and had gone to Greggs to get breakfast (it's the one near the clock in the Jewellery Qtr). A very obviously homeless or otherwise vulnerable man was having a tussle with the female employee in there, as he had taken a sandwich and refused to give her back. Tbh, by the time I'd got there, the sandwich was squashed up beyound saleability anyway, but the woman persisted. I'm not saying everyone should just take what they want, but the man was obviously in need, and no police will come out to arrest a homeless guy for a sandwich. The woman clearly didn't know when to give up.

Back home in London thieving is an epidemic and the police don't care. I see it al the time. Unless the police and the Government are serious about nicking on this colossal scale, we live with it. However a lot of thieves down here do it because they can, not because they need to.

I've never seen anyone stealing in Greggs. I feel like I'm missing out on a rite of passage.

Not Greggs but my local Asda is like a fortress now, with alarmed entry and exit gates to get in and out of the actual store once you have come in through the main entrance, additional security by the self service tills and another two flanking the two guys who are monitoring the CCTV screen. All the alcohol is tagged now, in the past it just used to be the costly stuff.There are beggars and dealers outside, shopping there feels dystopian

I used to work in greggs and I saw someone brazenly try to steal. I approached her and asked if she was going to pay, she denied stealing so k pointed out the camera in the shop and the one just outside that would also pick her up leaving, she asked what I was going to do, I said nothing if she gave it back, my colleague came along and she then threatened her, said it was a disgrace as she was homeless threw them on the ground and stamped on them! Ironically it was the night a homeless charity came to collect our leftovers! We called the police because of the threat and they knew her and took statements from us. She wasn't homeless, just wanted to spend her money on drink and not food.
The problem is the police won't do anything unless there's a threat or violence and it's not worth employees risking themselves to stop the.

It's the logical conclusion of the increasing view that it's acceptable to steal from big companies, that it's not shameful, and that it's not worth the police's time.

I know, I hate this privileged, middle class snark. Some people haven't the option to be fussy about food.

Plus Greggs food is yummy.
Especially the pink jammy donuts 🍩

I stole from Greggs once when I was homeless as a teenager. It was the most public theft I’d done.

I mostly just stole food from waitrose. There were a couple aisles there not covered by cctv, unlike the Tesco next door which had security and multiple cameras in each aisle. I did get caught once but all they did was ask me to leave the store.