Protection against break-ins in shop windows

The object

Unitymedia GmbH is a German cable network operator based in Cologne with more than 2,000 employees. The company sells its products online and via a store system with business stores throughout Germany.
The store windows are usually fitted with laminated safety glass (LSG) to protect the products on display behind them - mostly high-quality mobile devices - from burglary. Glazing is one of the most sensitive areas of a building. Large display window areas are particularly prone to break-ins. For this reason, the Unity-Media Shop in Münster-Hiltrup (Westphalia) was also fitted with laminated safety glass before it opened.

The requirement

But despite this protection, unknown perpetrators were able to steal high-quality, new cell phones from Apple and Samsung from the window display in a night and fog operation. They used an extremely hard object (a stone, as the police suspect) to smash a hole in the laminated security pane and reached through. The damage amounted to several thousand euros.
After the theft, store manager Sebastian Voß was looking for a timely, effective retrofit solution to thwart such lightning break-ins in the future and provide even better security for his window displays. At the same time, the installation or mounting should not disturb the ongoing customer business in the store and should not reduce the view of the displays.

The solution

HAVERKAMP security experts advised the store owner to use the PROFILON^® AX A1 security film. It was developed to increase the resistance value of the glass and thus thwart lightning strikes and vandalism attempts. The multilayer structure of the film absorbs the impact energy (e.g. of a stone throw). At the same time, the film provides a very high level of shatter retention. The broken glass remains in the frame, and the risk of flying glass splinters is minimized. The optimized version of PROFILON^® AX A1, in which material components and manufacturing processes have been perfected, also features maximum transparency. The view through the shop window is not clouded. Thanks to the integrated UV filter, fading of the store interior is delayed.
"The appearance of the film is absolutely good, the coating is not visible on the shop window and that with such high resistance values," Sebastian Voß was satisfied after the installation of the security film. "The installation also went quickly and was possible alongside the customer's business." In total, the certified installation team from HAVERKAMP processed 20 sqm of PROFILON^® AX A1 security film in the Hiltrup-based Unity-Media store. "An investment that will already pay for itself with the next - then thwarted - burglary attempt," Voß is certain.