Michael Riley, executive officer of the St Vincent de Paul Wagga Central Council, said the decision didn’t come lightly.

“The recent crime-related incident in the Ashmont Shopping Mall, involving a woman being held at knife-point, has deeply shocked the society,” Mr Riley said.

“Our loyal volunteers, who have been working in our Vinnies shop for years, are predominantly female and we need to consider their safety.” 

However, one longtime volunteer said they weren’t consulted. 

"The Ashmont community needs Vinnies, we were a point of call to drop in for assistance with welfare as people used the shop phone to call for assistance,” they said. 

“Its just upsetting to see it go when people saw us as a safe place in the mall.” 

The Daily Advertiser understands volunteers were told to remain quiet about the closure. 

Newsagency owner Himanshu Rawal is “still shaken” after his female employee was held at knife point on August 12.

Since 2015, he’s been shoplifted from many times and had two armed robberies, leaving uncertainty about whether he’d stay.

“There’s no security, at least a few guards in the morning would make a big difference,” he said.

“I love serving my community, but if it’s harmful sometimes you need to make tough decisions.”

There are now six empty stores in the mall.

Darryl Gibbs, who runs the photography shop, is sad to see Vinnies go. 

“They’ve helped a lot of people over the years, they’ll be missed,” Mr Gibbs said.

While he’s experienced less crime this year, business has been slow.

“People have tried longer hours and spent a lot of money fixing it up, there are just less and less people going through,” he said. 

“If people would give it some support, give us a go, people power can win.”