Daniel Foster and another teen, who was under 18 at the time and therefore cannot be named, climbed onto the roof of the Harvey Norman store on King Street on the evening of March 2 and got into a storage section.

Once inside, they grabbed items before the alarm went off, and they fled towards Kully Bay Park, where they hid the loot.

They then went to the nearby Bunnings Warehouse store where they gained entry into a holding yard and gathered more hardware.

While leaving, they were spotted by a member of the public, who called police, who discovered the pair along with a third youth, acting as a lookout.

When arrested, Foster admitted to the crimes, saying he intended to sell the pilfered items for cash.

Foster pleaded guilty in Wollongong Local Court on Wednesday to both break and enters, and will be sentenced next month.