Melbourne shop owners say they’re being overrun by thieves who brazenly take items and refuse to pay for them.

Hadi told Neil Mitchell he had three liquor stores – in Cranbourne North, Springvale North and Glen Waverley – and was the target of groups at least once a fortnight.

“Some put it in their pocket but mainly we’ve been getting people recently grabbing out of the fridge or off the shelf and then running out,” he explained.

He said he couldn’t afford security.

“The last thing we can do is afford a security guard when we’re trying to compete against Dan Murphy’s and so on,” he said.

Minutes later, Rob rang to echo Hadi’s sentiments.

“They just help themselves to the fridge,” he said.

Rob said police didn’t act because the items weren’t significant enough in value.

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