Safety precautions set unfortunate tone

It’s actions, not words, that people almost always pay attention to, especially when dealing with issues like personal safety.

Here’s a snippet of a recent Free Press story in which Farmery Estate Brewing’s co-owner Chris Warwaruk talks about a new store the brewery is opening at Osborne Street and Roslyn Road.

“To ensure the new store is safe for both employees and patrons, Warwaruk said all products are kept behind the counter, which has a clear plexiglass barrier separating staff from customers. He also said two employees always work in the store and it has large front-facing windows so people can clearly see inside.

“Farmery has also already co-ordinated with police foot patrols in the area and the Osborne Village BIZ, he added.”

It’s good to prepare for any concerns. There’s nothing at all wrong with being proactive and taking any action you can to protect both customers and employees from risks. The downside is that such actions are needed in the first place.

Also, there’s the fact that such precautions being needed sets a tone for residents of the city that you have to plan for theft and potential violence, that you have to be alert, that you can’t let your guard down.

That impression is strengthened even more by the other side of the retail-theft problem, one that store owners are often unwilling to directly cite.

Faced with being unable to absorb losses due to theft, owners and franchisees are making the straightforward business decision to shut down. Giant Tiger has closed a series of downtown stores, saying only that the locations — stores on McPhillips and Main streets — were “challenging for our business model.”

A series of 7-Eleven stores in higher theft areas have closed, a Subway location and a Starbucks left Osborne Village citing safety and security concerns, and the list goes on. Farmery’s shop is in the location of a recently shuttered Circle K convenience store. And that is just a fraction of the closures that have hit different parts of central Winnipeg.

It’s no wonder only eight per cent of Winnipeggers tallied in a September 2026 Winnipeg Police Services survey said they felt safe walking downtown after dark — because the message being sent by both departing retailers and businesses taking extensive security messages is the same: safety is an issue.

And the problem is that the feeling of threats to personal safety only grow alongside an ever-increasing emphasis on the need for precautions.

This isn’t to say businesses shouldn’t make the difficult decision to close operations or that those who remain or launch new ventures shouldn’t take precautions to protect staff and customers. It also doesn’t mean that the media shouldn’t provide current and accurate information about safety issues in the city. What is more important than providing information to help readers make decisions about their own well-being?

But it’s hard for potential customers not to pay attention to the fact that business owners, whether closing operations or fortifying them, are making it abundantly clear that retail crime is a pressing and serious business issue.

It’s also a fact that solutions and retail losses are, in the end, paid for at the cash register by all customers.

The need for constantly-increasing safety has to change and impressions eventually will, too.

But not in lockstep and not quickly.

It’s simply a shame that this is where we are, essentially being forced to build a collection of small fortresses.

It isn’t the way to build local communities or a city.