Gabrielle Rowe was sentenced at the Ballarat Magistrates Court on Friday after she pleaded guilty to 12 charges.

One of those offences, intentionally causing injury, was related to the box cutter slashing incident at Ballarat JB Hi-Fi on February 23.

Magistrate Gregory Robinson told Rowe, who appeared via video link, "your attack on your victims was callous, thoughtless and vicious and for no good reason at all".

"This type of violence can be life changing for people, not just physical injury but mental as well. Those impacts on your victims are ongoing and will probably remain ongoing well after your release from prison.

"You came to this court committing the most serious crime," he said.

"I am not overstating that. It's quite rare to see someone being stabbed in this city."

On the day of the incident, Rowe entered JB Hi-Fi on Mair Street and tried to leave the store without paying for a bluetooth speaker she had placed in her bag.

The security officer called the store manager, closed the front doors and asked Rowe to empty her bag. She then tried to push past the security officer, saying 'I have a box cutter. You are going to let me out'.

Rowe grabbed the box cutter from her handbag and slashed the store manager on his bicep, causing a 'large and deep' wound, before running out the store.

The incident was captured on CCTV. Rowe was on a community correction order at the time.

The remaining charges against Rowe, included causing criminal damage to a TAB, stealing alcohol from Dan Murphy's, assaults on two people in the Little Bridge Street precinct and stealing from Myer and Spotlight in Ballarat.

In January, she punched and robbed a woman of her mobile telephone at Bakery Hill McDonald's restaurant. Rowe told the victim, "Give me the property or I will shoot you".

Defence barrister Angela Sharpley urged the court to consider sentencing Rowe to imprisonment in combination with a community correction order because of her youth, having committed the crimes when she was 19.

The prosecution did not disagree with a combination sentence.

Two of Rowe's victims - the JB Hi-Fi store manager who was slashed with the box cutter and a colleague -were in court for the sentencing on Friday.

The magistrate said he placed weight on Rowe's prospects of rehabilitation.

"It's for the greater civil and community good that young people are rehabilitated so they can live a full life without crime. Whilst it is seen as a benefit to the community as a whole that the focus is on their rehabilitation ... the victims of the offending would be slow to see that," Mr Robinson said.

"I have to take into account a very clear law on youthful sentencing. I do accept Ms Rowe should not be put on the social scrap heap ... there should be a focus on her rehabilitation.

"She will be locked up for one or two years and she will be in the community so her rehabilitation is in the community's interest."

Rowe has already served 293 days of her sentence in pre-sentence detention so she will be released from prison within 12 months.

Once released from jail, Rowe will be placed on a two-year community correction order which includes supervision, offender behaviour programs, drug assessment and treatment and judicial monitoring.

On Friday afternoon, Rowe lodged an appeal of the sentence. She applied for appeal bail, however it was refused because she did not show exceptional circumstances.

She was remanded in custody until her appeal hearing in the County Court at a date to be fixed.

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