photo by Sarah Kirchner

Ada Kuethe, center, pays for gas and snacks as Amber Lobb looks on Friday at Korner Mart West. Kuethe said she is not worried about her safety when shopping at convenience stores, following a robbery Aug. 21 at Kwik Trip on Front Street.

Business Monday: Convenience store safety

Local convenience stores prepare employees in case of a robbery

By Sarah Kirchner | Albert Lea Tribune

Published Sunday, August 31, 2008

Armed robberies can be scary things, as Kwik Trip employees experienced Aug. 21 when a man wielding a knife robbed the Front Street store in Albert Lea. However, local convenience stores do everything they can to prepare their employees for such an instance.

“We try really hard for nothing like this to happen, and whenever it does it’s a real shock,” said Korner Mart West store manager Monroe Warren.

“It’s something that we’re really serious about all the time. So even though it just happened down the street, it’s something we’ve been taking precautions against for as long as I’ve worked here,” he continued.

Employees at Korner Mart West are self-trained on safety issues, he said. There is literature, read by each employee, that outlines what to do in case of a robbery. Employees occasionally practice the procedures to stay up on the steps and check the process.

Warren said there is a panic button employees carry on their belts and one attached to the counter, “just in case something was to happen.”

A sign on the door states safes are time-locked and employees do not have access.

Warren said he tells his employees that people are worth more than anything else in the store.

“The people that are working for us are really important,” he said.

There has not been a robbery at Korner Mart West in the past seven years, according to Warren.

However, following the robbery at Kwik Trip, he said he took some extra precautions at his store. Warren said he had all the alarms checked and double-tested all the panic buttons.

“Every day we do a reaction because as much as I hate to say it, it is possible,” he said.

If a robbery were to occur at the store, Warren said his first priority would be to make sure his employees are all right.

He said he couldn’t say how a robbery would affect business. However, store policy is to keep less than $100 in the register and not to carry large amounts of money in the store at any given time.

The store could take a hit during the hours immediately following the robbery, according to Warren. Employees are trained to lock up the store and not let anyone in or out until an investigation is complete, so business would halt during that time.

There is a possibility the store would lose a good employee after a robbery, Warren said.

That would cost the store money in taking time to train someone new, but he said he doesn’t know if a robbery would scare away customers or push them in the door.

Customer Ada Kuethe said Friday a robbery occurring at a convenience store she frequents wouldn’t deter her.

“I’m just not worried about it,” she said.

Chad Vietor, another customer Friday, said he feels safe shopping at Korner Mart West.

Warren said he hopes a robbery does not happen at the store, but if it does, his employees are prepared.

A Kwik Trip district manager did not return calls as of press time.