Four Square owner Dipal Desai said she had lost three days of business this week but she was not too stressed about the whole situation — aiming to open for business on Friday afternoon.
"It's just a challenge to face ... We will clean it all up this afternoon and just have to move on.
"People are really friendly and we have a lot of community support."
New Plymouth police Sergeant Bruce Irvine said the culprits broke into two Okato houses and stole three vehicles before heading south to Rahotu in the early hours of the morning, where they reversed a vehicle into the Four Square.
"We believe it's all linked and it's the same group of offenders."
Police had forensic teams investigating the crime scenes and making further inquiries.
Okato resident Liz Richardson said she was out for dinner on Thursday night but realised the car was gone when she got home.
Her partner and 1-year-old were asleep at time and, after waking her partner, they realised valuables had been taken including a computer, phone, wallet and sets of keys.
The offenders had entered through a back door and left wet footprints everywhere.
She said the offenders only had a small amount of time to commit the crime as her partner had only gone to bed an hour before she got home.
"The house is so small — it's crazy my partner didn't wake up.
"We always thought of Okato as a safe community and never worried too much about locking the doors while we are here.
"It is unsettling to know someone was in our house while us and our baby were sleeping.
"We are just happy everybody is okay."
