Owner of Greens Hotline Bakery Van Mai chased the two thieves from Bridge Mall to around Freight Bar and Restaurant on Tuesday morning after he realised they had used his Eftpos machine to steal $250.

One of the offenders had distracted him asking questions about his food while the second person used the machine to process a refund onto their own credit card.

The same act had been carried out 10 days earlier, meaning a total of $500 was stolen from the business, but Mr Mai had not realised on that day until after the thief had left.

Van Mai and Kim Trinh's son Harry Mai said his family had seen Bridge Mall change over time since they first took over the business in 2005 and this incident exemplified the deterioration of the area.

Harry Mai said he remembered Bridge Mall busy with people, even during the winter months, 16 years ago.

But he said the demographic of people frequenting the area had changed since, coupled with a reduction in foot traffic, and this had affected the profitability of their business.

"The people there changed really away from families to more youth groups," he said.

"Less foot traffic means the businesses are not getting customers. The council rates in the Bridge Mall are quite expensive and there is the lease. All that contributes to now having so many empty shops there.

"There is really only a handful of shops that have been there since we have been around which is a shame because you want to see Bridge Mall full.

"It has definitely been a downward trend over the years for business. Because we are a food business we are still able to survive okay.

"It has been tough but I think there are things in the Bridge Mall that help businesses a little bit by bringing foot traffic like the monthly farmers market on a Saturday."

Mr Mai said he was shocked to hear his dad had chased offenders around Bridge Mall and through Ballarat on Tuesday.

He said his father was fed up of feeling the need to be wary of criminal behaviour in the mall.

Mr Mai said passersby seeing the commotion of the chase did not help boost people's confidence to shop there.

He said his dad was yelling for help as he chased the two offenders, with two other passersby helping him catch them before police officers arrived.

"A few people would have seen it happen. There were people in the Bridge Mall also yelling for help," he said.

"It is not a great environment to be in. If you see stuff like that happen where two people are running away and there is a guy chasing after them because they have stolen money, it doesn't help the situation at all.

"It doesn't make you want to go there."

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Mr Mai said he had not previously been involved in discussions about changing the mall, but his family welcomed any efforts to improve the environment.

"Mum and dad like the idea of at least trying to open it up and see what happens. It is not working the way it is at the moment," he said.

"I think they would like for it to open up to see if more traffic comes through.

"At the moment it is quite hard to even get a park to get into the Bridge Mall. You have to park in carpark where the supermarkets are located and walk into the mall. It is not ideal.

"That is a fair effort and if you see things like what happened yesterday, you would rather not go in there."

For bakery owner Van Mai, Tuesday's theft incident pushed him to a new level of frustration, after constantly feeling on guard to prevent criminals targeting his business.

"Yesterday dad had just had enough so thought I will run after them and see what happens," he said.

"I couldn't believe it when he called and told me."

Bridge Mall concept designs are due to be discussed by Ballarat City Council at a meeting on Wednesday night.

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