THUNDER BAY — The Circle K convenience store on the corner of Arthur and Franklin streets sees the most loss from criminal activity of any location between Thunder Bay and North Bay.
In 2024, the south-side store saw losses from theft, robbery and other criminal activity in the amount of $82,000. And within the first quarter of this year, the store has already experienced $21,000 in shrinkage with that number expected to quadruple by the end of 2025.
That's according to security and loss prevention staff with Circle K’s Central Canada division, who gave a deputation to the Thunder Bay Police Service Board on Tuesday about an increasing pattern of crime with shoplifting, robberies and assaults in their stores in the city.
“We’re just looking for solutions,” said Amandeep Purar, coordinator of security and loss prevention. “We don’t want to install measures that affect the consumer’s experience. That’s our last resort.”
The company would like to increase its collaboration with city police to improve safety and reduce crime in its stores.
It’s not just the Arthur Street store experiencing these issues – a business impact report by Circle K shows the five stores with the most losses, totalling nearly $220,000, are all in Thunder Bay.
The store located at 185 Cumberland St. N. experienced about $47,000 in losses in 2024 followed by the 1500 James Street S. location with $38,000 in losses.
The store at 394 Oliver Road lost about $38,000 and the 915 Red River Rd. location experienced $21,000 in loss last year.
Many staff members in the city are afraid to go work, said Dave Lane, district manager.
Police often don’t come unless someone has been injured and store employees are usually told to just file a report, he said.
“We’re wondering what it’s going to take to get help or what kind of help we can get,” said Lane. “We don’t want to see it turn to violence.”
The company has spent more than $600,000 since 2021 on security, they said, and Thunder Bay is the only area where they need security on a daily basis.
Police board vice-chair Denise Baxter asked what percentage of the company’s sales the losses add up to, but Purar and his colleagues weren’t aware of that number.
Baxter also asked about the possibility of using pass-through windows at stores, and Purar replied their business model focuses on impulse buying.
Addressing the concerns of employee safety, board chair Karen Machado recommended the company work with the Ministry of Labour to receive guidance on dealing with worker health and safety and asked if Circle K keeps track of what was stolen and if they noticed a spike in theft since the stores started selling alcohol last year.
Purar said they’ve been having issues in the city for much longer than convenience stores have been allowed to sell alcohol in the province.
Police Chief Darcy Fleury said the service is concerned about the rising crime at the convenience stores and the affect that petty crime is having on the business community in general.
He said they will continue to work together to come up with better ways to manage the situation.
“It would be great if we could set a car up and be present at any time during the day. The reality is our cars are constantly on the go and they do respond to high-priority calls on a regular basis,” said Fleury. “It’s a situation I wish we had better ways of dealing with.”
