I once worked in a store that had a problem with a group of shoplifters coming into the store and stealing wine, beer, and cough medicine. The group would come into the store and fill their backpacks with wine and beer, putting as much in the bags as they could possibly fit, while others from the group kept watch at the end of the aisles. We also started finding cases of beer with the boxes ripped open and some of the beer missing from the package. This made it easy to see that a theft had been committed. At the time, the store didn’t have any amount of bottle security to speak of, only a camera that observed the area from a long distance away. It wasn’t even meant to look at this area, it was focused on other merchandise and the wine just happened to be seen in the background on video.
After finding open beer cases and reviewing video, we found that we were losing the items during the weekends. You may have guessed it already, but these were underage shoplifters. Most of them were considered adults, just not old enough to legally purchase alcoholic beverages. The store was located in a large shopping center, where young people would hang out and congregate on the weekends. The wine problem could have been easily solved by placing bottle locks on the wine bottles if they were available to us in the store at the time, though it would have taken a huge amount of locks to cover all of the bottles in the store. The beer issue was a little more difficult, so we decided to increase employee presence in this area and increase customer service as a deterrent.
In a perfect world, all stores would segregate all of the alcoholic products in a secured area, where anyone under the legal drinking age wouldn’t have access. If this were an option, it would have been great, but it was a large store with several different departments and this option was not realistic for the business. Instead, we did everything else we were able to at the store level. We started limiting the amount of product we put on the shelf for the cough medicine. We also began tagging some the boxes of product that were on the shelf, and placing other boxes in hard plastic keepers like those from Alpha Security, so they wouldn’t be as easily accessible.
Once we figured out when they were coming into the store, we made sure we were there at the times they would come in, and eventually caught some of the group. They said that they were using some of the products themselves, and selling the rest to other people that weren’t old enough to purchase it themselves. This information was not surprise because I had heard of this type of thing happening at other stores, but it was still troubling to hear.
Thefts like this are going to happen, and retailers should take every precaution to reduce the chances of it happening in their stores; including ensuring that they have some form of bottle security measures in place. This should happen with any alcoholic products that are accessible to minors or underage patrons.
For more information contact us: (bottle security) or call 1.770.426.0547
I once worked in a store that had a problem with a group of shoplifters coming into the store and stealing wine, beer, and cough medicine. The group would come into the store and fill their backpacks with wine and beer, putting as much in the bags as they could possibly fit, while others from the group kept watch at the end of the aisles. We also started finding cases of beer with the boxes ripped open and some of the beer missing from the package. This made it easy to see that a theft had been committed. At the time, the store didn’t have any amount of bottle security to speak of, only a camera that observed the area from a long distance away. It wasn’t even meant to look at this area, it was focused on other merchandise and the wine just happened to be seen in the background on video.
After finding open beer cases and reviewing video, we found that we were losing the items during the weekends. You may have guessed it already, but these were underage shoplifters. Most of them were considered adults, just not old enough to legally purchase alcoholic beverages. The store was located in a large shopping center, where young people would hang out and congregate on the weekends. The wine problem could have been easily solved by placing bottle locks on the wine bottles if they were available to us in the store at the time, though it would have taken a huge amount of locks to cover all of the bottles in the store. The beer issue was a little more difficult, so we decided to increase employee presence in this area and increase customer service as a deterrent.
In a perfect world, all stores would segregate all of the alcoholic products in a secured area, where anyone under the legal drinking age wouldn’t have access. If this were an option, it would have been great, but it was a large store with several different departments and this option was not realistic for the business. Instead, we did everything else we were able to at the store level. We started limiting the amount of product we put on the shelf for the cough medicine. We also began tagging some the boxes of product that were on the shelf, and placing other boxes in hard plastic keepers like those from Alpha Security, so they wouldn’t be as easily accessible.
Once we figured out when they were coming into the store, we made sure we were there at the times they would come in, and eventually caught some of the group. They said that they were using some of the products themselves, and selling the rest to other people that weren’t old enough to purchase it themselves. This information was not surprise because I had heard of this type of thing happening at other stores, but it was still troubling to hear.
Thefts like this are going to happen, and retailers should take every precaution to reduce the chances of it happening in their stores; including ensuring that they have some form of bottle security measures in place. This should happen with any alcoholic products that are accessible to minors or underage patrons.
For more information contact us: Bottle Security or call 1.770.426.0547
Whether you call it return fraud or refund fraud, it causes a huge amount of loss to the retail industry every year. Return fraud occurs when someone returns an item that they didn’t purchase, or makes money off of a return in some way. It’s been a tactic used by shoplifters for a very long time, and it’s still being used today because it works so well for them. Your retail theft prevention plan may be great in traditional shoplifting scenarios, but are you paying attention to other methods they will use to commit thefts? Think about it, do you think return fraud is as risky for the thief as standard shoplifting? There is much less risk involved with return fraud because the thieves are not leaving the store with any merchandise, just your money. Regardless of what your store sells, small refunds add up fast, and small businesses can be hit hard by this kind of activity.
Thieves know you are looking for the methods that shoplifters use when stealing, so they have to get creative. Refund fraud also relieves them of having to deal with all kinds of anti-shoplifting equipment. A couple of dead giveaways that identify someone that is in the process of return fraud are picking up or searching for receipts, and looking at a receipt while looking at merchandise on the shelf. When I see someone looking for receipts, I immediately know what they have in mind. On numerous occasions, I have seen customers digging through the trash can and walking through the parking lot looking for receipts. They usually look for receipts with merchandise that was purchased with cash, so they will get cash when they return the items, not store credit.
You wouldn’t think they would make it so obvious, but right after they pick up the receipt from the parking lot, they will come in the store and try to compare the item numbers on the receipt with the item numbers on the shelf labels. They do this because in order to receive a refund, the items need to match exactly what is on the receipt. When they find the items, they bring them right to the customer service desk to get a refund.
Most stores have a system in place that will limit the amount of no receipt returns per customer. The customer’s identification, such as a driver’s license is usually keyed into the computer. This allows the retailer to keep track of how many times that person has returned merchandise without a receipt, and if they exceed the store’s allowed amount, the return will be denied. The problem with this system, is that it doesn’t account for customers that are returning merchandise with a receipt.
This is where your retail theft prevention plan should come into play. The best defense for refund fraud is your team. One person can’t see everything that happens in the store all the time. It is everyone’s responsibility to take the initiative to stop shoplifting. Your employees should be trained to be on the lookout for behaviors like these, and offer customer service in order to deter any dishonest activities.
For more information contact us: (retail theft prevention) or call 1.770.426.0547
Whether you call it return fraud or refund fraud, it causes a huge amount of loss to the retail industry every year. Return fraud occurs when someone returns an item that they didn’t purchase, or makes money off of a return in some way. It’s been a tactic used by shoplifters for a very long time, and it’s still being used today because it works so well for them. Your retail theft prevention plan may be great in traditional shoplifting scenarios, but are you paying attention to other methods they will use to commit thefts? Think about it, do you think return fraud is as risky for the thief as standard shoplifting? There is much less risk involved with return fraud because the thieves are not leaving the store with any merchandise, just your money. Regardless of what your store sells, small refunds add up fast, and small businesses can be hit hard by this kind of activity.
Thieves know you are looking for the methods that shoplifters use when stealing, so they have to get creative. Refund fraud also relieves them of having to deal with all kinds of anti-shoplifting equipment. A couple of dead giveaways that identify someone that is in the process of return fraud are picking up or searching for receipts, and looking at a receipt while looking at merchandise on the shelf. When I see someone looking for receipts, I immediately know what they have in mind. On numerous occasions, I have seen customers digging through the trash can and walking through the parking lot looking for receipts. They usually look for receipts with merchandise that was purchased with cash, so they will get cash when they return the items, not store credit.
You wouldn’t think they would make it so obvious, but right after they pick up the receipt from the parking lot, they will come in the store and try to compare the item numbers on the receipt with the item numbers on the shelf labels. They do this because in order to receive a refund, the items need to match exactly what is on the receipt. When they find the items, they bring them right to the customer service desk to get a refund.
Most stores have a system in place that will limit the amount of no receipt returns per customer. The customer’s identification, such as a driver’s license is usually keyed into the computer. This allows the retailer to keep track of how many times that person has returned merchandise without a receipt, and if they exceed the store’s allowed amount, the return will be denied. The problem with this system, is that it doesn’t account for customers that are returning merchandise with a receipt.
This is where your retail theft prevention plan should come into play. The best defense for refund fraud is your team. One person can’t see everything that happens in the store all the time. It is everyone’s responsibility to take the initiative to stop shoplifting. Your employees should be trained to be on the lookout for behaviors like these, and offer customer service in order to deter any dishonest activities.
For more information contact us: Retail Theft Prevention or call 1.770.426.0547
Good people make bad choices. That is a basic story of life, and it can happen at home or work. In today’s world, people and their misuse of prescription drugs is a regular feature heard on the nightly news. As an owner or manager of a pharmacy, you can sit on your “wait and hope” perch, or you have the choice to do something about it and take away some of the temptation. RX Caps can provide you with added inventory security, as well as help stop a substance abuse issue from ever happening.
The unfortunate truth is, besides stealing controlled drugs to sell on the street for money, in this business, you face the very real threat of an employee with a drug problem.
In many cases that I have been a part of investigating, it starts out with self medicating. The employee has chronic pain, has an accident, or is having a lot of stress at home. They want to come to work, so to help get them through the day, they skim a couple pills from a stock bottle off the shelf or a patient’s bottle. They justify this by telling themselves they will be a better employee and give you a better day’s work if they are not in pain or suffering from major anxiety. When a few pills are no longer enough, they will take more and more, possibly partial or whole bottles at a time. Any technician in your pharmacy can just grab a bottle off the shelf, conceal it, and get out the door in some fashion. You can have bag checks, lab coat checks, and detail inspection of every lunch box, but if you have an employee with an addiction, they will find a way to get what they need. Pill bottles can go out in the trash, shipping containers, or any other creative vehicles they can come up with. RX Caps can be the solution to this issue because the bottles are locked shut and can only be opened with the provided magnet key. If the device is tampered with, it will alarm. If a bottle with an RX Cap attached is removed from the designated area, it will alarm.
You would likely begin to notice changes in the employee’s behavior before you ever notice the missing pills. Although no specific behavior can define the problem, you need to be aware and willing to admit there may be an issue if the employee is suddenly acting different. They may begin coming in earlier than scheduled for shifts, or hanging around after their shift ended. Be aware if the employee visits the pharmacy on their day off, especially if they come back into the work area. They may volunteer to put away certain sections when a delivery arrives. Watch out for repeated visits to the restroom, or to their car. Be aware of an employee having visitors on a regular basis. Watch for changes in their physical appearance, constantly tired and sleepy, dark circles under their eyes, or even wired up and “twitchy”.
RX Caps can be a great deterrent for this unfortunate problem that is pervasive in today’s world, at least for an actual pharmacy employee. If they know the bottles are locked up, they will be less likely to try to steal pills in the first place. And really, preventing the loss is what it is all about.
For more information contact us at: Antishoplifting.net or call 1.770.426.0547
Good people make bad choices. That is a basic story of life, and it can happen at home or work. In today’s world, people and their misuse of prescription drugs is a regular feature heard on the nightly news. As an owner or manager of a pharmacy, you can sit on your “wait and hope” perch, or you have the choice to do something about it and take away some of the temptation. Alpha Rx Caps can provide you with added inventory security, as well as help stop a substance abuse issue from ever happening. The unfortunate truth is, besides stealing controlled drugs to sell on the street for money, in this business, you face the very real threat of an employee with a drug problem.
In many cases that I have been a part of investigating, it starts out with self medicating. The employee has chronic pain, has an accident, or is having a lot of stress at home. They want to come to work, so to help get them through the day, they skim a couple pills from a stock bottle off the shelf or a patient’s bottle. They justify this by telling themselves they will be a better employee and give you a better day’s work if they are not in pain or suffering from major anxiety. When a few pills are no longer enough, they will take more and more, possibly partial or whole bottles at a time. Any technician in your pharmacy can just grab a bottle off the shelf, conceal it, and get out the door in some fashion. You can have bag checks, lab coat checks, and detail inspection of every lunch box, but if you have an employee with an addiction, they will find a way to get what they need. Pill bottles can go out in the trash, shipping containers, or any other creative vehicles they can come up with. Alpha Rx Caps can be the solution to this issue because the bottles are locked shut and can only be opened with the provided magnet key. If the device is tampered with, it will alarm. If a bottle with an Rx Cap attached is removed from the designated area, it will alarm.
You would likely begin to notice changes in the employee’s behavior before you ever notice the missing pills. Although no specific behavior can define the problem, you need to be aware and willing to admit there may be an issue if the employee is suddenly acting different. They may begin coming in earlier than scheduled for shifts, or hanging around after their shift ended. Be aware if the employee visits the pharmacy on their day off, especially if they come back into the work area. They may volunteer to put away certain sections when a delivery arrives. Watch out for repeated visits to the restroom, or to their car. Be aware of an employee having visitors on a regular basis. Watch for changes in their physical appearance, constantly tired and sleepy, dark circles under their eyes, or even wired up and “twitchy”.
Rx Caps can be a great deterrent for this unfortunate problem that is pervasive in today’s world, at least for an actual pharmacy employee. If they know the bottles are locked up, they will be less likely to try to steal pills in the first place. And really, preventing the loss is what it is all about.
For more information contact us at: Antishoplifting.net or call 1.770.426.0547
There’s nothing more relaxing that a Sunday afternoon tee time. I was never really a big golfer, but my boss pulled me into the sport a few years ago. Ever since, I’ve been hooked… and sliced, depending on the day. Not that long ago, I pulled up to the club a little early one Sunday morning and I noticed that there were some police cruisers at the front of the pro shop. I went over to see what was going on, since I was close friends with the manager. I let him finish up with the officers before I went over, but I could tell he was pretty distraught.
After everything settled down, I found out that he discovered his shop was missing almost ten thousand dollars in golf clubs. He was certain someone broke in overnight, but there was no evidence of a burglary. There was no broken glass, no alarm notifications, nothing. I was a district LP manager for a large company at the time, so I knew just how he felt. I offered my assistance in reviewing video footage. I’m a terrible golfer anyway.
A few hours went by and I had his culprit. About two days before he discovered the clubs missing, a person came into the pro shop. He strolled around the cheaper boxed sets for a little while, before removing the contents of one of those boxes. Over the next twenty minutes, all while being assisted my friend, the shoplifter filled that box with the high end clubs. After making the sale, the shoplifter exited the store with his $100 purchase… which also contained the $10k in missing clubs.
I offered some advice and told him about the O-Tag. His store was already set up with an EAS tower, so all he had to do was buy a few and see if they worked out for him. A few weeks later, he gave me a call to tell me a second shoplifter had attempted the same act. Only this time, when they walked out of the store, the tower alerted to the O-Tags inside the box. Instead of losing another $7k in product, he was able to have a thief arrested. As it would turn out, this thief was operating with the first guy who was ultimately arrested a few days later. Turns out, he ran a pawn shop on the other side of town and my friend was able to recover a great deal of his stolen property. Now, even though he caters to a very small group of people, there isn’t a single club in his store that isn’t protected with an O-Tag.
There’s nothing more relaxing that a Sunday afternoon tee time. I was never really a big golfer, but my boss pulled me into the sport a few years ago. Ever since, I’ve been hooked… and sliced, depending on the day. Not that long ago, I pulled up to the club a little early one Sunday morning and I noticed that there were some police cruisers at the front of the pro shop. I went over to see what was going on, since I was close friends with the manager. I let him finish up with the officers before I went over, but I could tell he was pretty distraught.
After everything settled down, I found out that he discovered his shop was missing almost ten thousand dollars in golf clubs. He was certain someone broke in overnight, but there was no evidence of a burglary. There was no broken glass, no alarm notifications, nothing. I was a district LP manager for a large company at the time, so I knew just how he felt. I offered my assistance in reviewing video footage. I’m a terrible golfer anyway.
A few hours went by and I had his culprit. About two days before he discovered the clubs missing, a person came into the pro shop. He strolled around the cheaper boxed sets for a little while, before removing the contents of one of those boxes. Over the next twenty minutes, all while being assisted by my friend, the shoplifter filled that box with the high end clubs. After making the sale, the shoplifter exited the store with his $100 purchase… which also contained the $10k in missing clubs.
I offered some advice and told him about the O-Tag. His store was already set up with an EAS tower, so all he had to do was buy a few and see if they worked out for him. A few weeks later, he gave me a call to tell me a second shoplifter had attempted the same act. Only this time, when they walked out of the store, the tower alerted to the O-Tags inside the box. Instead of losing another $7k in product, he was able to have a thief arrested. As it would turn out, this thief was operating with the first guy who was ultimately arrested a few days later. Turns out, he ran a pawn shop on the other side of town and my friend was able to recover a great deal of his stolen property. Now, even though he caters to a very small group of people, there isn’t a single club in his store that isn’t protected with an O-Tag.
For more information contact us at losspreventionsystems.com or call 1.770.426.0547
There is a fine line between keeping your merchandise secure, and inconveniencing your customer. You want to keep the customers happy, but also prevent shoplifting from occurring at the same time. There is a good balance you can attain, and it starts with policy and training. If you have a policy regarding lock up merchandise, make sure that every member of your team knows and understands the reasons behind the policy, so there are no exceptions.
You may want to keep your some of your merchandise locked up, but not all of it. Start with the most valuable merchandise, and consider locking it in a display cabinet, so your customers can still see the item. If this doesn’t work for your business or merchandise, there are several products from Alpha Security that will fit your needs, such as the Alpha Spider Wrap. This is a versatile device that can fit many different types of merchandise. It allows you to keep your products out on the shelf, while still securing the item to prevent shoplifting.
I recall a shopping trip I took to a major retailer a few years ago, when the employees didn’t quite understand the concept of lockup security. I walked into the store looking to purchase a new video game, so I went straight toward the electronics department. When I got to the electronics department, no one was around anywhere. I finally found an employee and I asked them for a game that was in a lockup cabinet. The employee responded by telling me that they didn’t have the keys, and they would have to call someone else to help me get the game. So the employee called for help, and about fifteen minutes later someone finally arrived to the department. I told the employee which game I wanted, and they retrieved the game out of the showcase. The next thing that happened was almost unbelievable. After waiting all that time for the employee to get the game out of the showcase, they just handed me the game and said, “Here you go,” and began walking away. I then asked the employee if I had to pay for this in the electronics department, and they said that I could pay for it up front.
I don’t think the employees in this store understood the reasons for locking up expensive and high theft items. If merchandise is locked up in some way, the employee shouldn’t just be handing it to the customer to walk around the store. That defeats the entire purpose of having the items locked in the showcase. The merchandise should have been rung up right in the electronics department, or held for me until I was finished with my other shopping, and then walked to a register. If I was a dishonest person, I may have seized the opportunity that the employee created for me, by not following company policies.
The only inconvenience that I experienced in this situation was not from the merchandise being locked up, but instead it was a customer service issue. Making your customers wait a long time to make a purchase is never a good idea. If merchandise is locked up, your team should be responding immediately for any requests. You can achieve the balance you are seeking with lockup security and keeping your customers happy. All you have to do is ensure they are fully trained on policy and how to properly use any retail anti-theft devices that your store. Fast customer service should be priority one, regardless of whether or not the merchandise is secured.
For more information contact us: (prevent shoplifting) or call 1.770.426.0547
There is a fine line between keeping your merchandise secure, and inconveniencing your customer. You want to keep the customers happy, but also prevent shoplifting from occurring at the same time. There is a good balance you can attain, and it starts with policy and training. If you have a policy regarding lock up merchandise, make sure that every member of your team knows and understands the reasons behind the policy, so there are no exceptions.
You may want to keep your some of your merchandise locked up, but not all of it. Start with the most valuable merchandise, and consider locking it in a display cabinet, so your customers can still see the item. If this doesn’t work for your business or merchandise, there are several products from Alpha Security that will fit your needs, such as the Alpha Spider Wrap. This is a versatile device that can fit many different types of merchandise. It allows you to keep your products out on the shelf, while still securing the item to prevent shoplifting.
I recall a shopping trip I took to a major retailer a few years ago, when the employees didn’t quite understand the concept of lockup security. I walked into the store looking to purchase a new video game, so I went straight toward the electronics department. When I got to the electronics department, no one was around anywhere. I finally found an employee and I asked them for a game that was in a lockup cabinet. The employee responded by telling me that they didn’t have the keys, and they would have to call someone else to help me get the game. So the employee called for help, and about fifteen minutes later someone finally arrived to the department. I told the employee which game I wanted, and they retrieved the game out of the showcase. The next thing that happened was almost unbelievable. After waiting all that time for the employee to get the game out of the showcase, they just handed me the game and said, “Here you go,” and began walking away. I then asked the employee if I had to pay for this in the electronics department, and they said that I could pay for it up front.
I don’t think the employees in this store understood the reasons for locking up expensive and high theft items. If merchandise is locked up in some way, the employee shouldn’t just be handing it to the customer to walk around the store. That defeats the entire purpose of having the items locked in the showcase. The merchandise should have been rung up right in the electronics department, or held for me until I was finished with my other shopping, and then walked to a register. If I was a dishonest person, I may have seized the opportunity that the employee created for me, by not following company policies.
The only inconvenience that I experienced in this situation was not from the merchandise being locked up, but instead it was a customer service issue. Making your customers wait a long time to make a purchase is never a good idea. If merchandise is locked up, your team should be responding immediately for any requests. You can achieve the balance you are seeking with lockup security and keeping your customers happy. All you have to do is ensure they are fully trained on policy and how to properly use any retail anti-theft devices that your store. Fast customer service should be priority one, regardless of whether or not the merchandise is secured.
For more information contact us: Prevent Shoplifting or call 1.770.426.0547
Sometimes I don’t quite understand the thought process of a shoplifter. While most bug out pretty quickly once they realize they are being observed, I’ve encountered quite a few that will stick around and argue right up until police show up. This happened not too long ago and it had to be the most entertaining 30 minutes of my career. It all started with a shoplifter breaking off the checkpoint tags on some football jerseys and realizing he was about to get caught.
It was finally here. After several months of clearing land, building the four walls, stocking and merchandising, we were set to grand open another new store. It was a great time for the company I worked for. Retail sales in general were down, but we were experiencing tremendous growth. This would be our 20th new store opened this year. It was a beautiful store with an impeccable management staff. The team was well trained, the leadership was seasoned and the store looked as close to perfect as I had ever seen a new store look. Customers were lining up the night before to be first in line, and when 7am came around, there was a line 300 deep to get in! This was a new market for us, so as far as shrink, we didn’t quite know what to expect, and so we didn’t skimp on our clothing security tags in our apparel department. It was a good call as we would eventually find out as the months rolled by.
As the day wore on, the store never had down time it seemed. All 20 registers were open all day long with 5 customers deep at any given time. My LP team and I were monitoring the store, but there wasn’t much going on to our surprise. We took physical security measures seriously and our store was very customer friendly, but we also took the steps needed to secure our inventory. It wasn’t until midafternoon that it looked like we’d have our first bite. There, in the jersey section, there was a shoplifter breaking the clothing security tags from 5 jerseys, all worth $100 each. It was go time.
I had several new agents working the weekend along with some of my tenured staff. I figured this would be an easy stop, so I let one of the rookies take the lead. She was on the floor and we were communicating via walkie. She was relaying his moves to me while I stood by the door awaiting his exit. My agent informed me that she had witnessed him break several more clothing alarms, and that he had concealed the shirts. It didn’t take long for our shoplifter to realize he was being watched by the new agent, so he removed the product from his pants and confronted her. She didn’t know what to do, so I intervened. I told this guy that he needed to leave the store for attempting to shoplift the product.
Here’s where it got pretty funny. He told me he didn’t have to go anywhere and he could stay in the store as long as he wanted. No problem. Five minutes later a Sherriff’s deputy arrived and found our shoplifter sitting in the middle of the walkway at the front of the store. Needless to say, he spent the weekend in jail.
For more information, contact us: Clothing Security, or call 1.770.426.0547
Sometimes I don’t quite understand the thought process of a shoplifter. While most bug out pretty quickly once they realize they are being observed, I’ve encountered quite a few that will stick around and argue right up until police show up. This happened not too long ago and it had to be the most entertaining 30 minutes of my career. It all started with a shoplifter breaking off the Checkpoint Tags on some football jerseys and realizing he was about to get caught.
It was finally here. After several months of clearing land, building the four walls, stocking and merchandising, we were set to grand open another new store. It was a great time for the company I worked for. Retail sales in general were down, but we were experiencing tremendous growth. This would be our 20th new store opened this year. It was a beautiful store with an impeccable management staff. The team was well trained, the leadership was seasoned and the store looked as close to perfect as I had ever seen a new store look. Customers were lining up the night before to be first in line, and when 7am came around, there was a line 300 deep to get in! This was a new market for us, so as far as shrink, we didn’t quite know what to expect, and so we didn’t skimp on our clothing security tags in our apparel department. It was a good call as we would eventually find out as the months rolled by.
As the day wore on, the store never had down time it seemed. All 20 registers were open all day long with 5 customers deep at any given time. My LP team and I were monitoring the store, but there wasn’t much going on to our surprise. We took physical security measures seriously and our store was very customer friendly, but we also took the steps needed to secure our inventory. It wasn’t until midafternoon that it looked like we’d have our first bite. There, in the jersey section, there was a shoplifter breaking the clothing security tags from 5 jerseys, all worth $100 each. It was go time.
I had several new agents working the weekend along with some of my tenured staff. I figured this would be an easy stop, so I let one of the rookies take the lead. She was on the floor and we were communicating via walkie talkie. She was relaying his moves to me while I stood by the door awaiting his exit. My agent informed me that she had witnessed him break several more clothing alarms, and that he had concealed the shirts. It didn’t take long for our shoplifter to realize he was being watched by the new agent, so he removed the product from his pants and confronted her. She didn’t know what to do, so I intervened. I told this guy that he needed to leave the store for attempting to shoplift the product.
Here’s where it got pretty funny. He told me he didn’t have to go anywhere and he could stay in the store as long as he wanted. No problem. Five minutes later a Sherriff’s deputy arrived and found our shoplifter sitting in the middle of the walkway at the front of the store. Needless to say, he spent the weekend in jail.
For more information, contact us: Clothing Security, or call 1.770.426.0547
