At ICA Kvantum in Filipstad, beggars have been so aggressive towards customers that the store has had to implement a system where staff can come to their assistance. The police’s effort has consisted of driving by a few times.

On social media, a video clip is circulating showing a sticker at ICA Kvantum Filipstad’s bottle deposit station with the text: “Have trouble with a beggar? We’ll come out and help you!”

Those who want it are offered protection from overly intrusive beggars:

The store manager and ICA grocer Christian Liljestrand, 34, tells Samnytt about the background to the initiative.

“Yes, it’s true that we’ve had problems at our deposit station. At its worst, there were a couple of incidents where a person would snatch the deposit receipt out of the customer’s hand,” he says, and continues:

“Several customers contact us every week saying they feel uncomfortable redeeming their bottles and cans, precisely because these individuals are in the way and very intrusive.”

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The ICA grocer further explains that staff are sent out to remove the beggars from the deposit station.

“Usually, customers only tell us afterwards, but our request and appeal is that whenever a customer feels uncomfortable, they should press our door phone and we will come out and help remove the person from the area.”

ICA Grocer: The Police Do Nothing

According to Liljestrand, the problems have persisted for several years and the store has been in contact with the police, who have only passed by a few times when the beggars weren’t even present.

Since the ICA grocer hasn’t received any more help than that, he has grown tired and lost hope that the police will be able to do anything.

“It’s sad to have to deal with such problems when I’d actually like to spend all my time on business development and creating a better customer offering for our residents,” Liljestrand states.

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