IGA supermarket owners in WA take the drastic step of banning teens after a spate theft and abuse

Supermarkets owners have made the drastic decision to ban teenagers in stores at night amid a surge in youth crime.

IGA stores in Geraldton, Western Australian, announced they will refuse entry to unsupervised children after 6pm in an attempt to tackle a spate of shoplifting and abuse toward staff.

Unaccompanied children under 16 may be refused entry or asked to leave the stores in Rigters, Queens and Wonthella, in the state’s mid-west.

Unaccompanied children under 16 may be refused entry or asked to leave IGA stores in Rigters, Queens and Wonthella, in mid-west WA (stock image pictured)

General manager Kyme Rigter told The West Australian staff across the three stores were confronted with 25-35 cases of shoplifting each week, or ‘half a dozen times a day’.

Mr Rigter said store managers would hold the power to decide who is refused entry.

Operations manager Stuart Bain said stocktake showed $150,000 of missing products would be attributed to theft between the supermarkets in one year. 

Unsupervised children have previously been restricted from the stores during school hours.

The move follows news last week of a Perth A Hungry Jack’s restaurant banning entry for anyone under the age of 17 without a guardian.

A Hungry Jack’s restaurant in Perth last week banned entry for anyone under the age of 17 without a guardian 

The Hungry Jacks outside the Westfield Whitford City shopping centre had recently been targeted by ‘eshays’, who had intimidated staff and damaged the store.

Both the IGA and Hungry Jacks decisions to refuse service to teenagers comes amid a string of youth crime across WA.

Since the start of the year, at least 16 juveniles have been charged with more than 100 offences including burglaries and armed robberies.