Collaroy Liquorland had been temporarily locking its front doors from mid-afternoon to prevent large groups from entering and intimidating staff, part of a wider pattern of brazen bottle shop thefts experienced throughout the region.
The Northern Beaches liquor store introduced, requiring customers to be buzzed in by a staff member. Since our query the sign has been removed.
“While most of our customers do the right thing, unfortunately a small number don’t,” a Liquorland spokesperson told us.
“Despite record levels of investment in technology, security guards and safety training, our team continues to experience unacceptable levels of abuse and threatening behaviour.”
The company said it has deployed CCTV, access control entry, security guards, body-worn cameras, and de-escalation training across its stores.
“We are also trialling some new security technology, including remote-activated display cabinets, which will reduce organised retail theft targeting these high-value items, ultimately meaning we have better availability of products that our customers want,” they said.
Witnesses have described incidents at two Northern Beaches stores. At Collaroy, one Manly Observer reader saw a group of four young men enter the store, with three attempting to distract a staff member while a fourth acted separately. At Balgowlah Village on Friday, 5 June 2026, two teenage boys waited for a staff member on shift to assist another customer before grabbing four bottles of spirits and fleeing.
Th below video is from February at Dan Murphy’s Manly Vale.
“I checked up on the employee, and he said that the same boys are regulars,” the reader, who requested to be anonymous, told Manly Observer.
“I mentioned the incident to the security supervisor on duty at Balgowlah Village, who said that incidents like this are becoming common.”
Official statistics tell a different story. NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research data shows retail theft on the Beaches has dropped 20 per cent over the past two years, though it’s unclear whether the decline reflects fewer incidents or a drop in staff reporting.
The data, which covers all shoplifting rather than alcohol specifically, shows the most common window for shoplifting is between noon and 6pm, consistent with the timing of Collaroy’s door-locking security measure.
Over the past five years, the most common shoplifting profile on the Beaches is male, aged between 10 and 17, non-Aboriginal, with incidents peaking in the first half of the year.
Liquorland said it’s working closely with local police.
