The incident, where a man walked into Salamander Bay Newspower on May 21 and threatened the male attendant with a knife for cash, is understood to be the third armed robbery of a Port Stephens business this year.

It was believed to be the most prominent crime against a business during the month of May.

There have been six reports of a non-residential burglary, covering businesses, clubs and storage units, during May with four happening in Raymond Terrace and one each in Salamander Bay and Heatherbrae.

Sergeant Matthew Moroney, the Port Stephens Local Area Command's crime co-ordinator, said while there had been recent incidents of break and enters to commercial premises, overall there had been a reduction in how often it occurred.

"We're below our business plan target of instances of break and enters to a non-dwelling," he said.

Sergeant Moroney said police worked with owners to "target harden" their businesses, reducing the opportunities for a crime to be committed against them.

CCTV was another "effective tool" police used to detect, identify and deter criminals, Sergeant Moroney said.

CCTV footage was collected from Salamander Bay Newspower and surrounding businesses following the May 21 attempted armed robbery.

Sergeant Moroney said a man described as being in his 20s, having a tanned complexion and being more than 1.8 metres tall with a slim build entered the Soldiers Point Road newsagency about 7am.

He approached the male attendant with a large knife and demanded cash from the register.

When the attendant told the robber that as it was the first thing in the morning there was no money, the man punched a computer monitor and left.

Police were urging anybody with information on the incident to phone the Raymond Terrace Police Station on 4983 7599 or Crime Stoppers, 1300 333 000.