A prominent Kerry businessman has told how he estimates that he loses up to €20,000 every year to opportunist shoplifters.
Dan Horan, who operates 21 health stores throughout the country, said they now have to keep many goods behind the counter instead of on the shelves as a deterrent to thieves.
He told of his plight on Liveline on RTÉ Radio One said his staff, some of who are with him for 15 to 20 years, have been trained to be very observant and they have become very good at spotting people who look like they are going to try to take something without paying.
“Even at that, people are still very good at it. The new thing now is that they take a bottle out of the box but they leave the box behind so it’s harder to spot that they’re after stealing something,” Dan said.
He said the shoplifters are targeting items like supplements, multi vitamins and probiotics which they are either selling on or using for their own personal use.
They have a preference for items that are €35 to €40 a box or a bottle and, he said, “they have no interest in the cheap stuff”.
“I’m good at selling – they’re good at stealing the products. It has become a massive issue,” Dan stated.
He said he can’t put an exact figure on what he losses to shoplifting but he believed it has to be in the region of €20,000 per year.
The Liveline audience heard that in the third quarter of last year six in every 10 theft offences committed in Ireland were related to shoplifting.
