A family-owned clothing store in Portage la Prairie is closing in January, after a rise in shoplifting created an “unsustainable burden” for the 13-year-old business.
Olina Fashions owner Arishya Aggarwal said theft has become an everyday occurrence, resulting in financial losses and concerns about the safety of staff and customers.
“Closing this business wasn’t an easy decision. After 13 years, it became clear that the challenges we faced, especially theft, made it impossible to keep going,” she said.
MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS FILES
Arishya Aggarwal said there is “no real deterrent” for theft, which hurts businesses and communities.
She said the decision was a painful one, because the store and its regular customers have been a huge part of her family’s lives.
Her family, which owns multiple businesses in Portage, started to think about shutting Olina Fashions in 2019. The last day is Jan. 25.
“Retail theft was the biggest factor — 100 per cent,” Aggarwal said. “It’s not just the financial losses, though those are massive. It’s the constant stress of having to watch out for it every day, the abuse our staff take when they try to stop it and the helplessness of seeing it get worse.
“Theft impacts everything, from morale to the ability to focus on growing the business. When you’re constantly dealing with theft, you’re stuck in survival mode instead of being able to grow.”
A thief held a machete to Aggarwal’s stomach during a robbery in August 2023.
Rampant theft, coupled with soaring costs, has been a factor in several recent store closures in Manitoba, including four 7-Eleven locations in Winnipeg.
“This is becoming something that is more often the case now,” said Manitoba Chambers of Commerce president and CEO Chuck Davidson. “Some businesses have little alternative while dealing with cost pressures already.”
Aggarwal said there is “no real deterrent” for theft, which hurts businesses and communities.
“If someone gets caught, nothing meaningful happens,” she said. “That sends the message that stealing is basically risk-free. By the time the RCMP step in, it’s already too late, and we never get our stolen merchandise back. Community safety officers don’t have the authority to make much of a difference, either.”
Aggarwal believes changes to Canada’s laws could help to curb theft.
“We need laws that enforce accountability and consequences, while also offering pathways for rehabilitation and positive change,” she said.
“Operating expenses like property taxes and salaries are already so high, and theft adds an unsustainable burden on top of that.
“Without real reform, more businesses will be forced to close. Independent businesses are the backbone of our communities, and we need real support if we want to keep them alive.”
Olina Fashions is one of few non-chain clothing stores in Portage, about 70 kilometres west of Winnipeg.
In October, politicians and other attendees of a retail summit in Winnipeg stressed the need to address poverty and drug addiction to curb thefts.
A retail theft enforcement campaign in Winnipeg’s Exchange District, Osborne Village and West End is being made permanent with Manitoba government funding. The province has faced calls to expand the program to other communities.
The province offered a $300 security equipment rebate to homeowners, renters and business owners, but the $2 million fund was quickly depleted.
Davidson and the Canadian Federation of Independent Business would welcome the program’s return — with an enhanced rebate — to help offset costs.
“It’s not even just retail theft. It’s vandalism, and there’s a high price tag associated with that,” said Tyler Slobogian, a Winnipeg-based senior policy analyst with CFIB.
Insurance deductibles often exceed the cost of stolen goods, meaning few businesses are willing to file a claim. About 75 per cent of Manitoba small businesses have said higher insurance rates are a top concern, Slobogian said.
He said small businesses owners — many of whom are in debt after the COVID-19 pandemic — have spent a median of $5,000 on crime-related expenses in the last three years.
“That could be the make or break for a lot of these small firms that are dealing with tighter profit margins,” he said.
Slobogian and Davidson said businesses need help from all levels of government. Davidson encouraged Manitobans to support local businesses.
About $200 million worth of goods is stolen annually in Manitoba, according to a Retail Council of Canada estimate. Retailers say theft is vastly underreported.
Reports of shoplifting in Manitoba remain below pre-pandemic levels, a recent Statistics Canada study found.
StatCan said 7,884 retail thefts (of items valued up to $5,000) were reported to Manitoba’s police services in 2023, up from 5,592 in 2022 and down from 9,437 in 2019.
Portage’s RCMP detachment received more shoplifting reports last year (247) than it did in each pandemic year and 2019 (207).
StatCan’s data for all of Manitoba suggested about half (48 per cent) of all shoplifting reports in 2019 were solved, compared with 30 per cent in 2023.
Charges were laid against 1,685 people in 2019 and 1,124 in 2023.
chris.kitching@freepress.mb.ca
Chris Kitching
Reporter
Chris Kitching is a general assignment reporter at the Free Press. He began his newspaper career in 2001, with stops in Winnipeg, Toronto and London, England, along the way. After returning to Winnipeg, he joined the Free Press in 2021, and now covers a little bit of everything for the newspaper. Read more about Chris.
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