Saskatoon retailer seeks answers after thefts and threats

Three shoplifting incidents, eight people and just one hour.

That’s what a Saskatoon business owner says he dealt with during a recent shift, and while theft is nothing new, he’s growing frustrated with what he sees as a lack of answers.

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Cory Henderson has been in business for about 20 years. He did not want to reveal the name of his businesses for fear of retaliation.

Henderson says shoplifting has become something he expects, but the threats and confrontations that sometimes come with it are much harder to accept.

“We’ve never had an incident where we’ve had three within such a short period of time,” Henderson said. “It was just kind of as you dealt with one, something else unfolded, and something else unfolded.”

Henderson said the three incidents involved separate groups, with eight people altogether leaving without paying for merchandise.

He said some encounters have also involved verbal abuse and threats against his safety.

“In the past, we’ve had situations where we’ve been shown knives and needles and things like that,” he said, describing threats to stab or poke him.

While Henderson doesn’t believe theft is necessarily becoming more frequent, he says the problem isn’t improving.

“Theft has been an ongoing issue for years. Is it getting worse? No, it’s not getting better,” he said.

For a small business already dealing with rising wages and operating costs, Henderson said the losses add another challenge.

He also worries about what customers experience when they witness confrontations inside the store.

Henderson said one of his biggest frustrations is what happens after a theft is reported.

He says his businesses have provided police with surveillance footage, descriptions of suspects and, in some cases, licence plate numbers.

But he says those efforts haven’t always resulted in answers.

“It’s very frustrating that we don’t get the results … why are we even going to the police about this?” he said.

Henderson said gathering footage and preparing reports can take hours, sometimes for merchandise worth only a few hundred dollars.

He has never made an insurance claim for stolen merchandise because of deductibles and other requirements.

He also questions whether police statistics capture the full picture if business owners become discouraged and stop reporting incidents.

“How many people are actually reporting crime stats anymore, and what’s the reason for that?” he asked.

Henderson said he understands police have limited resources and must prioritize more serious calls.

He would like to see faster response times and additional policing resources, although he praised Saskatoon’s community resource officers for helping connect people with services.

“We’ve seen a definite benefit to that change,” he said.

Despite his frustration, Henderson says he doesn’t believe putting more people through the criminal justice system is necessarily the answer.

His businesses have worked with organizations including the Salvation Army and Community Living to help get clothing to people who need it.

He said he’d rather see people ask for help than resort to stealing.

“I personally have went to people and said, ‘What can I do to help you? How can I make your life better?’” he said.

But Henderson acknowledges small businesses can only do so much.

“I’d love to give everybody a pair of shoes and a pair of socks. Unfortunately, I’d be out of business before I knew it if I had to do that for every person that came in for it.”

He believes more collaboration between governments, police, community organizations and business owners could help identify solutions.

Henderson suggested bringing different stakeholders together to discuss what is working, what isn’t and how available resources could be used more effectively.

He said he isn’t interested in blaming any particular government. Instead, he wants a solution that protects businesses while helping people who are struggling.

“We really don’t know what to do anymore,” he said. “We don’t want to criminalize people. We don’t want to put them through the courts and the jails.”

He said the goal is to make businesses safer for everyone, including employees, customers and people seeking assistance.

For Henderson, the issue is especially personal because his business is family-owned.

“All the shareholders in my company are sitting around a table today in my house having Thanksgiving dinner,” he said. “That’s what a small business is, right?”

Despite the thefts, threats and frustration, Henderson says he has no intention of giving up on the community he’s served for two decades.

“We open our doors every day for the same reason we’ve opened them up for 20 years: is that we’re doing good in the community,” he said.

He hopes speaking publicly will encourage a broader conversation about what needs to change.

“I do want to come up with a solution-focused idea of how we can make it better for everyone,” Henderson said. “And I don’t have the answer to that. I wish I did.”

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