An Auckland liquor store owner said thieves who smashed their way into his store in the early hours of this morning were stealing "to order".

And he has begged the network of criminals targeting shop owners across the city to stop.

Liquorland on Lunn Ave, Mount Wellington was broken into at 4am.

Thieves smashed through the front window and helped themselves to thousands of dollars worth of stock.

Police say at this stage they are not sure if it was a "ram raid" - but an investigation is underway.

"It's not immediately apparent that a vehicle was used to gain entry," said a spokeswoman.

"A fog cannon in the store was activated. Follow-up inquiries are being made."

This morning store owner Andrew Barr spoke to the Herald about the break-in.

"There were clearly people who needed my products more than I did," he said.

"They couldn't afford them, so they decided to ram raid the front of the shop helping themselves to a lot of products - tobacco, bourbon, vodka, and a heck of a lot of cigarettes."

He said the thieves came in "a couple of cars".

"Obviously it was well organised.

"They came in with a sledgehammer - that also makes you think if they came in with that, heaven forbid if someone was here or if it was during trading hours."

Barr said the incident would result in "an incredible loss of productivity".

"All the costs associated with the damage to the building and the stocktake that needs to happen," he said.

"The biggest problem is the inconvenience to a whole lot of people at the shop here."

"We're a business. We're here to serve people. This is disappointing."

"Lots of hard work just in the clean-up alone, and more to be done."

Barr believed the thieves were in his story for about 15 minutes, but he is yet to watch the CCTV footage.

"This was pretty well organised," he said.

"They knew what they wanted - they came prepared with a sledgehammer; my counter has been destroyed.

"It's obvious they are stealing to order."

The break-in comes a day after a local business owner in St Heliers had a heart attack after discovering his site was targeted by thieves.

Cafe Meadow in St Heliers was burgled on Friday morning and hours later owner Miles Taylor had a major heart attack.

He was taken to Auckland Hospital in a serious condition.

Cafe Meadow manager Shipali Sharma told the Herald yesterday that the staff and customers were in shock.

"The front door was smashed, they stole liquor, beer bottles, laptops and broke our system, they tried to break our till but were unsuccessful.

"It has impacted the business and the community, we had to close early and cancel our bookings. Everyone was in shock, first ram raid and then what happened with Miles.

"We are getting wooden boards installed. Now, it's up to the police."

Taylor was in intensive care and in a serious condition, Sharma said.

Police believe the offenders took the till and left in the same vehicle used in a similar burglary, one of a string in the area, at another St Heliers retailer.

"At this stage police are working to establish the circumstances of all incidents and to determine whether the incidents are linked."

No arrests have been made yet, but police were working "extremely hard" to identify these offenders.

"Police have absolutely no tolerance for this type of offending against our local business owners, and we work hard to hold to account those responsible," Barry said.

Many neighbouring business owners are calling on the Government to take stern action against a spike in ram raid-related crimes.

On Wednesday, Police Minister Chris Hipkins said he was buoyed by some 150 arrests and 750 charges laid since February in relation to ram raids.

"Police are focusing significant investigative effort on the recent spike in retail offending, including ram raids, and have a good success rate in holding offenders to account."

In an exclusive interview with the Herald, Auckland Detective Inspector Scott Beard previously said at least 12 smash-and-grabs had occurred across Tāmaki Makaurau in the six weeks from the end of May to mid-July.

Barr said today the thefts were "dreadful".

"There have to be consequences for these people who do this," he said.

"If it is kids who have done this, (where) are the parents? Where's the liability with these parents?

"It's being allowed to happen.

"The disappointing thing is, we're a new store - have only been open for 14 months."

- ADDITIONAL REPORTING: HAYDEN WOODWARD