Queenstown supermarket loses $30k to shoplifters

Shoplifters made off with around $30,000 worth of goods from Pak’nSave Queenstown in the past 12 months, a whopping 99% increase.

Owner Michelle King says the items were stolen across 662 incidents of shoplifting between 1 July, 2024, and 30 June, 2025, up from 266 incidents in the previous 12 months.

Some 370 people were involved and many more are believed to have slipped through the net.

Multiple trespass notices have been issued to the culprits through the Police, who’ve been very active in trying to nail the problem – an automatic Pak’nSave shopping ban in place for two years for those people, much to their surprise.

“We get the ‘I’m very sorry’ emails and ‘it was unintentional’, ‘please can we continue to shop with you’.” The reply is, ‘No, you can’t!’” King says. “We encourage them to tell their friends, that they now can’t shop at Queenstown’s lowest priced supermarket.”

The trespass notices are issued as a deterrent and while some offenders claim they do it to survive, or it’s a cost-of-living thing, King says smoked salmon, Manuka honey, protein powders and energy drinks, razor blades and chocolate aren’t essential to survive.

Others buy chicken and chips from the deli and eat them on the way around the supermarket.

“We ‘re seeing all ages and a variety of nationalities – local residents, and visitors, people from all socio-economic means.”

Items can be stuffed down trouser legs and in pockets and offenders often pay for the essentials then steal the luxury items. Others leave the luxury items in their reusable shopping bags and pay for the rest.

“We’ve just reinstalled shopping baskets and we’re trying to discourage people from putting their items into reusable shopping bags and use these baskets instead while inside the store,” King says.

Signage is being installed to encourage shoppers to pack items into baskets first.

 

She says the problem has become way worse in the last five years. “We’ve gone from identifying the occasional theft once a week to identifying daily offending daily.”

They’ve invested more resource into trying to combat the problem and despite the extra focus on loss prevention they just seem to keep unearthing even more offending, she says. “This is obviously reflected in these large increases in dollars lost and people involved each year.”

“We can’t identify every instance, so those figures are only from recorded instances this past two years.”

Between 1 July 2023 and 30 June 2024, some $14,794 worth of goods were identified stolen, across 266 occasions, with 151 people involved. That rose to $29,423, across 662 occasions, with 370 people involved in the 12 months to 30 June, 2025.

The Police support has been “awesome”, she says. “They often visit and have a look around, their presence very valuable.” All evidence on any new offending is loaded into the store’s system for Police to see. “They’re locating offenders and prosecuting where they can.”

Police put out a call recently urging people to tell shop staff throughout the district about any suspicious behaviour amid a big spike in retail theft around Queenstown and Wanaka in recent months, with petrol stations being hit too.

They warned those giving it a go that surveillance and security systems are very good now at detecting theft.

“We’re looking at every incident when we have footage and registration numbers. Where we can we will take action,” Sergeant Simon Matheson says.

While Pak’nSave would be one of the worst hit, Matheson says there’s been a marked increase in retail theft around Queenstown and Wānaka in recent months, with petrol stations being hit too.

He says Police are working closely with partner government agencies to try and overcome the problem. “Judging by the items they’re stealing they’re clearly not stealing to survive,” he says.