Operator annoyed

Bread and meat stolen from farm store for 100 euros

Here you can see the suspected thief entering the store

(Bild: zVg, Krone KREATIV)

"It's frustrating," says Martin Greul, operator of a self-service farm store in Ansfelden. His store had been hit by a suspected thief who packed around 100 euros worth of food but "forgot" to pay. The police have been informed and are asking for information.

Honesty is the best policy! An as yet unknown woman did not seem to think much of this saying recently. She apparently shamelessly exploited the principle of self-service and filled her pockets in the Ansfelden food pantry without paying.

Woman was behaving strangely
"Another customer was in the store with her, and her behavior immediately struck him as 'Spanish'," says Martin Greul, who, together with his wife Beatrice, sells Grüblhof's own products and regional foods through this self-service store.

Item not paid for
"The other customer even waited outside the store and approached the alleged thief. She just said 'I don't care' and then fled on foot," says Greul, who was immediately informed by the customer. The surveillance camera shows the stranger packing up dairy products, meat and baked goods and leaving the farm store without paying.

Around 100 euros in damage
The owners have reported the incident to the police, who are now searching for the woman and asking for information. At the same time, the Greuls are also using social media to search for the suspected thief - unfortunately without success so far. For the time being, they are stuck with the loss of around 100 euros.

"Zero percent appreciation"
"We put work into the store 365 days a year and sell high-quality products from local producers. A lot of love and manual work goes into it. It's very frustrating when this is shamelessly exploited and not appreciated at all. However, we remain optimistic that the thief will be found and will pay for the damage," says Greul.

Kommentar

Schwarze Schafe schaden allen

Self-service is booming! Be it in DIY stores or furniture stores. The lack of staff or new business models mean that customers are increasingly having to help themselves - even at the checkout.

(Bild: Markus Wenzel, adobe.stock.com, Krone KREATIV)

It is clear that there are black sheep out there. Large retail chains have probably factored in the losses incurred in this way, but theft is certainly harder for farm stores to cope with. Anyone who puts their heart and soul into running a small business will - rightly - see this as a loss of trust, which may result in the closure of the store or higher prices. The bottom line is that everyone has to pay the price, even those who always pay well.