Armed police launched a manhunt after the robbery at the ASB Bank in the suburb of Kilbirnie about 4.30pm yesterday.
The armed offenders squad was called in to search for the man, who police said was dangerous.
Police said the man, armed with a knife, walked into the bank and demanded money. No one was injured, but the man managed to get away with a small amount of cash.
Today, police were at the scene of the incident, speaking to staff at local businesses, and photographing the bank.
A young woman from ASB Bank was also being interviewed by police.
Manager of Postie Plus in Kilbirnie, Cheryl Hollis, says she closed the doors to the store during yesterday's incident, and was concerned to hear the offender had not been caught.
She said she was out the back of the store when the incident unfolded.
"When I came out the front my staff said there was something going on outside."
Ms Hollis said when she realised what was going on she yelled out for everyone to get undercover, and later lead customers and staff out the back of the store, to a supermarket carpark.
"I just made a judgement call, and decided to lock the shop and take the customers out the back... it's their safety that counted to me.
"He [the offender] could of come anywhere, gone anywhere, and ran into any of the shops that were in the vicinity. What would of happened if the guy had of escaped from there and come into this store?"
The incident left her customers "petrified" she said.
Ms Hollis said she was now concerned that Kilbirnie had become an unsafe place.
Police have since released CCTV stills of the man who allegedly robbed the store.
They said they urgently wanted to hear from anyone who could identify the man in the CCTV images, or who may have information about the robbery.
The suspect was described as a Maori or Polynesian man aged 20-30, of average build, about 1.73m tall, with light facial hair.
Police said the man was wearing white or light coloured shoes, dark trousers and a dark coloured hooded top.
Anyone who saw someone who fit that description should call 111.
NZME. np
