Shoplifting on the rise

KvF has spoken to three major retailers, and there seems to be agreement that shoplifting is on the increase.

“We have had an annual shrinkage of about 2 percent for many years, but this figure has now doubled. Specifically, we are seeing an increase in theft of grocery items,” says Durita Nolsøe, the daily manager of Tórshavn’s SMS shopping centre.

“Our profit losses have more than doubled due to shoplifting,” says Eyðvør Berg, deputy manager of Runavík’s Berglon retail store.

Súsanna Poulsen, the CEO of nationwide grocery store chain FK, says although there are no detailed figures, FK is seeing a surge in shoplifting.

“Most of the shoplifting in FK is concentrated around the Hoyvík branch,” she says.

In the clip linked to below, none of the three specified a timeframe in which this increase in shoplifting has taken place.

All shoplifters reported to police

This spike has prompted stores to implement a variety of measures to crack down on shoplifters.

Until recently, shoplifters were often just given a reprimand, and if young people were involved, their parents would be informed.

But the three retailers say that the increase is so significant now that all shoplifters are reported to the police.

Many stores have increased the presence of surveillance cameras.

“We now spend a lot more time on watching this footage live than we used to,” says Berglon’s Eyðvør Berg.

FK is actively changing the layout of their stores to discourage potential shoplifters, and staff are making an effort to be more visible in the stores.

More shoplifting, higher prices

A consequence of the rise in shoplifting is that stores need to mark up their prices to recoup their losses, say the three retailers.

Criminologist Ingmar Mikkelsen says the increased figures do not necessarily represent a direct increase in shoplifting.

“If stores have increased their surveillance and they report every instance of shoplifting, then obviously the reported figures will rise,” he says.

“We have recently come out of a lengthy pandemic where shopping patterns were disrupted. We should also take this into account when making any comparisons between now and one or two years ago.”

Read the Faroese version of this article here.

More Faroese News in English.