If they told him that he will get a civil demand, I would expect him to get a civil demand. If he doesn't pay the civil demand he can be sued. If he's under 18, his parents can be sued along with him.
By "will he have to go to court" do you mean "will he be criminally charged"? We can't answer that for you. Some stores turn over a dossier on a shoplifting incident to the police, rather than having the police come to the scene. He'll have to wait and see what happens.

