Thieves grabbed more than £10,000 worth of cigarettes in a raid at Wickford's Somerfield superstore.
Now managers have launched an investigation to find out why the store's alarm was not triggered by the thieves.
The High Street store was targeted in the early hours of Monday morning.
Thieves cut out a large pane of glass and helped themselves to almost £10,500 worth of cigarettes after jemmying their way into a kiosk. Two entrances to the store were also damaged.
Manager Rob Tippett said he and other staff would be considering ways to tighten up security.
He added: "We have CCTV at the store and an alarm system so it's hard to see what else we can do. "We will be viewing footage from our closed circuit television cameras and this will be handed over to the police.
"The intruders clearly knew exactly what they wanted - they didn't take anything apart from cigarettes, even though there were bottles of champagne behind the counter."
Anyone with any information should call Wickford CID on 01268 561312 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555111
Check - shop assistant Denise Hanley surveys the empty shelves
Picture: MIKE BELLENIE
Converted for the new archive on 19 November 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article