On Sunday night coffee franchise Zarraffa’s fell victim to a series of robberies that saw thieves target five of its Queensland stores.

The first robbery was initiated at the Zarraffa’s store in Carrara on the Gold Coast at 11.50pm.

Just an hour later a second robbery took place at the chain’s Holmview store, where the thieves escaped with cash, reports The Courier Mail.

At 1.20am the thieves broke through the front doors of the Zarraffa’s store in Springwood, and just 20 minutes later they entered the chain’s Greenslopes store, however nothing was stolen at either location.

The fifth and final robbery took place at the Zarraffa’s store in Salisbury, where cash was stolen.

It is believed the thieves did not have keys to any of the stores and instead broke into them using a device such as a crowbar. 

In a statement released yesterday the company’s executive director James Baritt said the incidents will impact franchisees in more ways than one. 

“The robberies that occurred at our stores last night are a violation that goes further than just the theft of property or damage to the businesses.

“Real people are affected, small business owners and their dependent workforce incur actual loss of livelihood while dealing with repairs and replacements, resulting in additional stress that could be avoided,” he added.

Baritt said Zarraffa’s will work with police as they attempt to track down the thieves who “acted callously towards our hardworking franchisees.”

He said each of the five stores opened their doors yesterday.