The man aged about 30 had been in the Wagga Road supermarket for a while before he approached and threatened staff about 7.50pm on Sunday, claiming he had a gun.

Albury police Detective Inspector Winston Woodward said “there is no indication” the man actually had a weapon during the armed robbery.

“There were two employees there in the store at the time because they were closing up for the night. The male has demanded cash from the cashier and has left the premises,” he said.

“It could be possible the person of interest was waiting until the store is empty and only the two employees are left.”

They allowed him to take the cash, which was significant because the store was due to close 10 minutes later, and were not injured during the confrontation.

“Both victims were shaken as a result of the incident, which is understandable. They were going about their business doing their job and for a man to enter the store and demand money from them is a traumatic experience,” Inspector Woodward said.

“Nobody should take any chances in relation to offenders who are armed, or say they are armed.

“I say please comply, let police do their job, and it’s better to be safe than sorry because incidents such as these sometimes in the past have come out badly.”

Aldi confirmed the two employees were fine after the incident, but did not want to comment any further.

The thief was described as caucasian, with red or ginger-coloured hair and beard, between 180 and 185 centimetres tall, with a medium build.

Inspector Woodward said said he was confident police could catch him without any further stores being targeted.

He warned people not to approach the man, but call police instead.

“I don’t believe there’s any concern for members of the public in the Albury community. Albury is a safe community, this is a an incident which I believe is isolated,” he said.

“We do have CCTV footage of the offender, we do have CCTV footage inside the store, so I am expecting an arrest in relation to this incident.”

Anyone with information can contact Albury police on (02) 6023 9299 or Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.