• Staff at a fashion and jewellery store were injured in a violent armed robbery in New Lynn, Auckland.
• Four masked men, armed with a hammer and machete, assaulted a worker and stole jewellery.
• Police are investigating the incident, which lasted under a minute.

Police are investigating after an Auckland fashion store owner was struck on his face with a hammer in a brutal daylight heist that saw trays of gold jewellery stolen in under a minute.

Customers hid while four masked men stormed Kaysons in New Lynn on Sunday, threatening staff and smashing glass cabinets holding valuable gold jewellery. They also injured the store’s owner and threatened to kill him.

The owner, who did not wish to be named, said he hadn’t slept a wink since the lightning raid caused mayhem in his store.

“He struck [the cabinet], then struck me straight away. And I was like, ‘Look, what are you doing? Why are you hitting me?’

“He goes, ‘If you don’t shut up, I’ll kill you.' And he kept saying, ‘I’ll kill you, I’ll kill you, I’ll kill you’.”

The terrifying ordeal was over in under a minute, leaving the owner to believe the store had been scoped out before the robbery.

Kaysons' owner said none of the staff tried to stop the men from stealing, but they still attacked him. Photo / Dean Purcell

The four robbers were disguised in balaclavas and face coverings and armed with a hammer and a machete.

The owner said none of the staff tried to stop the men from stealing, but they still attacked him.

Meanwhile, customers took cover in the store, hiding throughout the terrifying afternoon ordeal.

Police were called to Kaysons store on Great North Rd, New Lynn. Photo / Dean Purcell

The owner, who has run the business for 26 years, received blows to his upper arm and his cheekbone, and another staff member’s arm got cut on the broken glass.

“It just doesn’t feel safe any more. Now we are debating, should we sell gold? Because no one’s going to attack us for clothing.

“I haven’t slept the whole night ... I’m just worried about my staff, we are more like a family.”

A staffer turned on the smoke cannon, but several trays of gold jewellery were stolen. The financial toll of the incident is still unclear.

Kaysons gold jewellery is priced between $100 to almost $15,000 on its website.

“It was so quick,” the staffer said. “After looking at the footage, we realised that it was just under a minute, because I thought would be like two to three minutes at least.”

Several trays of gold jewelry were stolen and cabinets smashed in Kaysons store on Great North Rd, New Lynn. Photo / Dean Purcell

The owner was glad his staff were safe and most uninjured but said the trauma of the incident would have a lasting effect.

Police said they were called to an aggravated robbery at 3.40pm after a report of a group entering and assaulting a worker, taking items and fleeing.

The incident was still under investigation and inquiries remained ongoing to determine exactly what was stolen.

Jaime Lyth is a multimedia journalist for the New Zealand Herald, focusing on crime and breaking news. Lyth began working under the NZ Herald masthead in 2021 as a reporter for the Northern Advocate in Whangārei.