The Champions of the World Wigram store has been left reeling after personalised rugby memorabilia was stolen in an overnight raid.

Sales and marketing manager Lorraine told Chris Lynch Media on Monday at 12:21am the store was broken into.

“Two offenders arrived in what appeared to be a White Honda Accord station wagon with sunroof.”

“The culprits used a hammer to smash their way through a large office window and take what didn’t belong to them.”

A selection of stock was stolen from the showroom including an All Blacks jersey, personalised to the owner.

She says although the offenders had hoodies on when they got out of the car, they didn’t do a good enough job covering their faces, with one criminal looking out the passenger window when arriving on the scene.

Lorraine says if the criminals don’t return the items tonight, she’ll be forwarding their images to Christchurch police.

She says the company is a small New Zealand owned business that has been operating under its current ownership since 2009 when it was purchased prior to going into receivership.

“The owners breathed fresh life into the business ahead of the 2011 Rugby World Cup only to then have the Christchurch earthquakes hit and see us lose both our Christchurch stores and offices.”

“Again, they worked hard to build it back up and this was clear in 2015 when they achieved Global recognition of being adidas largest reseller of All Blacks and Super Rugby merchandise.”

“The business relies heavily on international visitors, domestic visitors and rugby events, with all three severely affected due to Covid-19. .

“We have closed our South City & Taupo stores already with a company-wide restructure currently still in place and ongoing.”

“The business has gone from a team of 40 down to 18 with the potential for more to still go as the restructure process continues.”

Lorraine says the break in on Monday is devastating to what is already a tough time for everyone.