Taylor Swift CDs go into lockdown at stores across Australia after desperate thieves target them for shoplifting

EXCLUSIVE

Taylor Swift CDs are being kept behind the counter in music stores across Australia after her recent concerts led to increasing numbers of CDs being stolen.

JB Hi-Fi, Australia’s largest music retail chain, has taken the desperate step to deter intrepid thieves who see a CD and think: ‘You’re with me (without paying)’.

Instead of where the pop star’s CDs would normally be kept, JB Hi-Fi in the Strand Arcade in Sydney’s Pitt St Mall has an empty room and four separate signs telling customers that the Swift albums are only behind the counter are available.

“Taylor Swift CDs are behind the counter. Temporary. Ask an employee for help,” reads a sign, followed by a smiley face.

“It’s unfair that Swifties are being blamed for this,” furious fan Alison, from Coogee in Sydney’s east, told Ny Breaking Australia.

Taylor Swift CDs are being kept behind the counter in music stores across Australia after her recent concerts led to increasing numbers of CDs being stolen. Two boards are shown in a JB Hi-Fi socket

‘It’s more likely that people are trying to take advantage of her recent tour and resell the CDs at a higher cost.

“Never in my wildest dreams did I think it would be this hard to buy a CD,” said the huge Swift fan.

Three of the four signs in JB Hi-Fi are printed on pink paper – a color often worn by Swifties – and the fourth sign, which is printed on green cardstock, features pink love hearts.

Alison, 25, said she had no trouble finding Swift CDs the last time she was in a JB HiFi store and the move is not good for the store’s reputation.

“Don’t blame me and my fellow Swifties for the actions of few people who probably don’t even like her music.

‘JB Hi-Fi needs to calm down and put the CDs back on the shelf where they belong. Otherwise we won’t tolerate it, to make a long story short.’

Alison couldn’t get a ticket to see Swift in Sydney but is such a big fan she flew to Melbourne instead.

“It was the best concert I’ve ever seen,” she said. ‘She played everything I wanted to hear.

“There will be bad blood between Swifties and JB Hi-Fi if they don’t resolve this quickly.”

The global superstar received great reviews for her seven shows in Melbourne and Sydney, during which she changed costumes for three and a half hours on stage to represent different eras of her career.

More than 600,000 people attended the Australian leg of the massive world tour.

A record 96,000 fans attended each of her three nights in Melbourne and a further 83,000 Swifties were at each of her four shows in Sydney.

JB Hi-Fi has been contacted for comment.

The empty area where Taylor Swift CDs are normally found is shown

The CD cover of Taylor Swift’s 1989 album is pictured. It is currently behind the counter at JB Hi-fi

Taylor Swift has been pictured on stage in Sydney during her hugely successful seven-date tour of Australia