Set The Tone For Your Business In 2017

January 31, 2017 by Leave a Comment

How did your retail business do in 2016? Face it, regardless of how well you did or did not do, you could have done much better. The key is to keep your cash, assets and merchandise on YOUR bottom line not someone else’s. Thieves take the money you could have had away, easily in some cases.

The problem is that thieves like shoplifters and employees that steal from you, are attracted to you like flies to honey. Only your assets are the honey. And once one finds you and your weakness, then here they come. Shoplifters talk to each other. They are no different from anyone else. Shoplifters associate with, well other like-minded people… other shoplifters. They share ideas, techniques and discuss the best places to score. If you make their list, then you become the honeycomb not just the honey.

The key is to set the right tone. For example, with shoplifters you must have a two prong attack. First, excellent customer interaction; every customer must be recognized when they enter your store. One out of ten people that walk through your doors is there to shoplift. That is an established fact, yes, even in YOUR store. It is also well established that over 50% of those shoplifters will not shoplift during that visit if greeted.

But what about the other nine people? They are your legitimate customers that you depend on. Greeting them is also critical. It lets them you know you appreciate them and their very presence. This type of interaction also tends to close more and better sales. Why are they in YOUR store as opposed to a big box retailer? You may even sell some of the same merchandise. For the most part they are looking for that interaction, give it to them!

The second piece is electronic protection. You and your staff cannot be everywhere, with every customer all the time. Shoplifters seek out this situation and in many cases will create it. An Electronic Article Surveillance (EAS) system such as a Checkpoint System is actively working 24/7 and tells the one out of ten shoplifters “go away” even as they enter your store. Shoplifters know what a Checkpoint System is and will shy away. They will go down the street to someone who is “easier”. Your other 9 customers will not care or in most cases even know what the system is for.

2017 is time to kick butt in sales. By all indications the economy will start to pick up. Let that work for you, not the shoplifter. Contact us today. We can help you with BOTH pieces, customer interaction and a Checkpoint Systems solution and help you make ALL of 2017 a great retail sales and profit year.

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Ask A Trusted Friend To Look At How You Conduct Inventory And Receiving Processes; You Could Improve Profitability

January 31, 2017 by Leave a Comment

It is human nature, we have a way we do things, we get comfortable and someone comes along with a suggestion and we get defensive. We think to ourselves, “My way works, why change it?” When asked why we do something the way we do, we may resort to using the old, “Because we’ve always done it this way” excuse to answer an inquiry. On occasion we may not want to try something new because it involves new technology we may not be familiar with. I remember when (no laughing) Loss Prevention moved from recording on VHS tape recorders to digital recording. New technology does not come easy to me and I had to learn how to use it or get passed by. In the long run, it was a better method of storing video overall. We could search transactions more easily for suspected employee passing incidents or cash theft.  We could narrow searching to specific times and we could create recording “zones”. Recording only activated when someone walked into the “zone” we were concerned with due to missing merchandise. Electronic Article Surveillance anti-theft devices became more prevalent with new and improved capabilities. Learning to trust the technology to prevent shoplifting and allow stores to take more merchandise out of lock-up cases and put them on store shelves for customer access was a difficult transition for an old school Loss Prevention Manager. In the long run these changes were for the better. We improved time management with digital recording and closed investigations faster. EAS freed up the time to unlock showcases and drove sales with increased customer access to merchandise.

      The truth is, often there is a better way to do things either because it is more cost efficient, it can save time or it is more accurate. One way to determine if there are areas for improvement for your inventory and receiving processes is to ask a trusted friend to go through and review how your store operates. The friend does not have to be an expert in receiving best practices, per se, but they should be good at evaluating how something is done and being able to ask, “Why?” and saying, “What if?” A friend will also have your trust and be able to be brutally honest with you about deficiencies in how you are doing something. You have to be prepared to take critiques and suggestions and not personalize them.

     What are some things you may seek to have evaluated in regard to receiving or inventory practices?

  • How frequently are vendors giving you credit on product that is not selling.
  • Some vendors such as cosmetic and jewelry vendors come in with laptop bags, purses boxes, etc. Do you inspect these for hidden merchandise before they leave your building?
  • Do you react to an EAS alarm for a vendor the same way you do for a shoplifter?
  • How much space in a stockroom is a vendor taking up with their products and can it be reduced?
  • How often is your store serviced by your vendors?
  • Have your product delivery evaluated? Is the store processing the merchandise and getting it to the floor in a timely and efficient manner?
  • Is product protected with EAS tags and anti-theft devices when it arrives to the store or after it is stocked on the sales floor?
  • How do you have your stockroom organized and how easy is it to locate merchandise to get it to the sales floor?
  • For inventory does your store count the merchandise and report it or do you bring in a professional inventory service?
  • How do you prep your store for inventory, especially your stockroom areas? Do you keep your stockroom inventory-ready all year or do you scramble to make it “countable”?
  • If you use a professional inventory service, do you still do a significant number of pre-counts or do you let the inventory company do what they are hired to do and can do better?

These are just a few suggestions that an evaluation of your procedures should include. The benefit to you may be that there are things that you can implement or change that will save payroll, increase productivity, improve efficiency and ultimately improve profitability.

     

     

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Look At Your Policies, Cash Flow, Deposits, Cash Drawers. Are You Setting Yourself Up For Theft? Either By A shoplifter Or An Employee?

January 31, 2017 by Leave a Comment

What policies do you have in place concerning cash handling, deposits, cash flow and preventing theft by a shoplifter or employee? If you have policies when did you last review them? If you don’t have set procedures and policies you are putting your store at risk for theft and potential robbery. Below are a few suggestions that can be used to create policies or strengthen polices already in place.

CASH FLOW

Starting with your cash office, there are things your cash counter, managers/supervisors and you can do to maintain cash flow integrity. At the start of the day the cash office employee should set up your money bags for registers with a set starting amount for each one. A manager should put the money in the tills and verify the tills are correct. I prefer money bags be used to move cash from the cash office to the registers with each bag being numbered to match a corresponding register. Some locations have the cash counter set up the tills and the tills are carried to the check-lanes. A rolling cash cart with a drop slot and locking door can be used to move the money bags to and from the cash office keeping cash secure. When a cashier is done for the day the money from their register can be placed in a money bag and dropped into the cart and rolled back to the cash office by a front end supervisor. A log should be kept requiring each person entering the cash office to write the time they entered, the date and their name and the time they exit. Money should always be locked in a safe and never left out on a counter in the cash office.

DEPOSITS

     Deposits can be done in one of two ways. Some small stores have a manager take deposits to the bank or get change from the bank when the need arises. The second method is to contract with an armored car company to pick up deposits and bring change orders. This is the safest method and my recommended method for deposits. However, it is an expense and may not be in the budget for a small business. IF your managers are making the deposits, there are several safety precautions to take. NEVER go at the same time of day, it establishes a pattern for a criminal who may be looking for an opportunity to rob the manager. Likewise, NEVER take the same route to the bank every time, change up the direction even if there are only a couple of ways to get there. Always have someone watch the manager from the exit doors as the manager walks to their car and be ready with a cell phone to call 911 if a robbery takes place.

CASH DRAWERS

    Train cashiers to never allow a customer to reach over the counter and get near the register drawer. IF someone reaches towards the drawer the register should be shut. Registers should be closed immediately following a transaction. If a cashier is sorting through the money or “straightening” they could be slipping money out and pocketing it or dropping money, then putting it in their pocket. Don’t “exchange” bills for patrons, there are some shoplifters who also engage in short changing and confusing cashiers and steal money using this method. Others will argue they did not get the right amount of change and start reaching in the till. If there is a dispute over change a manager needs to conduct a till audit with a partner, in the cash office. If there are enough registers in the store, limit one cashier to one register, when the cashier is done for the day, their money goes in their bag with a supervisor present and the supervisor drops it in the cash cart and rolls it to the cash office. Keep large bills under the till, if they are on top they are easy to see and easier for a grab and run. Consider purchasing locking till covers for registers that have money in them but are not currently in use. There are traveling shoplifting rings and till tap rings that have register keys and will open drawers if no one is paying attention. Till covers prevent someone from getting to the cash even if they open the drawer. Finally, when a register has too many large bills or excessive amounts of money, do a skim and take the excess to the cash office.

Cash handling policies can make your business safer and more profitable. Establish them and then periodically review them to ensure they are being followed.

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Is Your Store Protected From Employee Theft and Shoplifters?

January 18, 2017 by Leave a Comment

According to the National association for Shoplifting Prevention (NASP) shoplifting cost the United States more than $35 million per day.  There are more than half a million incidents concerning shoplifting every day, and the issue does not seem to be abating.  Security systems across the United States seem to be implemented in every retail store you encounter, but the problem of employee theft and shoplifting are very much huge issues with no solutions. Is it misinformation the issue?  Do your  employees know you will prosecute if caught stealing? Is it poor personnel training the issue? Here are three articles with information to prevent your business becoming a heaven for shoplifters and employee theft.

6 Security Lessons for Preventing Employee Theft of High-Value Property

How do you stop employee theft of high-value assets?

The harm from employee theft grows as the value of property increases. For example, the FBI says a vice president of product development at Tiffany & Co. systematically stole $1.3 million worth of jewelry from the company, checking out jewelry to show to potential buyers or for other marketing purposes and never returning the items.

That case pales in comparison with a theft that came to light in 2009. A vault manager at Jacmel Jewelry in Queens, NY, stole $12 million in gold over six years—500 pounds worth, one piece at a time—by hiding it in the lining of her pocketbook.

To the extent possible, it’s good to keep high-value assets and critical material separate from employees, but that’s not always practical. In casinos, for example, line workers need access to huge chunks of cash. In such situations, what security measures are effective for preventing employee theft? It’s a complicated issue that demands the evaluation of a range of issues, including:

  • how employees are screened and monitored;
  • how materials are accounted for;
  • how investigations are conducted;
  • how staff is trained and motivated; and
  • how security is tested, assessed, and improved.

Are You Doing Enough to Secure Your Stores?

Theft and robbery continue to rise, but new technology and planning can deter.

NATIONAL REPORT — Whether it’s violent crime, robberies, shoplifting or employee theft, convenience stores have been dealing with store security issues for years. New technology is allowing operators to amp up prevention and react faster to incidents, but in many cases — in c-stores and the entire retail industry — the situation continues to worsen.

“I’ve been involved in the convenience store industry for 40-plus years and the risk of loss has not changed. The most worrisome is robbery, and as c-stores evolved into 24 hours, the violence level increased,” Chris McGoey of McGoey Security Consulting told Convenience Store News.

Robberies are up all-around, specifically in convenience stores, as the latest released FBI statistics show robbery up 16.8 percent in c-stores/gas stations from 2014 to 2015. Rosemary Erickson, researcher, forensic sociologist and president of Athena Research Corp., based in Sioux Falls, S.D., says this is the largest increase she can remember in all the years she has been studying crime. Erickson has helped NACS, the Association for Convenience & Fuel Retailing, develop many of its security resources.

Arden Fair Mall Store Employees Accused Of Stealing Thousands From Registers

​SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — Two alleged Christmas-time criminals are under arrest after each was caught stealing thousands of dollars from their own employer’s cash registers at the Arden Fair Mall.

Cops arrested Sears employee Rowan Chan for stealing $2,700 from his job, and Macy’s employee Imani Randle for stealing $7,700 from her job.

Both were booked within hours of each other.

A Sacramento Police spokesperson says each retail employee was in charge of a store register and in both cases, put company cash on their own debit and credit cards for weeks by ringing up fake returns.

“Basically we call it phantom returns,” Security expert Terry Brown said.

Brown owns Armor Bearer Protective Services. He says Christmas time is a busy time for store security, monitoring their own employees, and phantom returns are an old trick.

 

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Shoplifting Penalties, Preventing shoplifting, and Background Screening

January 13, 2017 by Leave a Comment

How was 2016 for you?  Was it a winning year or one full of loses?  Were the personnel helping you during the holidays everything you expected?  Many businesses forgo the employee screening process due to the cost associated with it, not knowing the cost is only a fraction of what a bad employee would cost them in a very short period of time.  Read more by following the links below.

Changes in Shoplifting Penalties Make It Tougher for Retailers

Retail shoplifting penalties are undergoing changes. They aren’t all good.

Most readers of the LPM Insider are probably pretty familiar with shoplifting, its definition, its negative impact on retail operations and profitability and the shoplifting penalties for their state. It would be a lengthy process to learn the laws of every state and their shoplifting penalties because of the vast differences and constant change. Shoplifting laws have changed significantly in recent years—but rarely to the benefit of the retail industry.

Shoplifting and petty theft are criminal offenses that are frequently thought of as interchangeable, as they share common elements. Each crime requires the perpetrator to take something valued at or below a certain dollar amount, with the intent to permanently keep it, usually constituting a misdemeanor crime. The taking of something valued over that predetermined amount (as described by law) constitutes grand theft, which is a felony. State laws vary on the cutoff between petty theft and grand theft, and the shoplifting penalties assigned to those crimes vary by the amount stolen and by state. But, in general, to qualify for petty or grand theft, certain criteria must apply:

  • The victim of the crime had a “possessory interest” in the stolen item
  • The property was “taken away”
  • The victim did not agree to the taking

The defendant intended to permanently deprive the victim of their interest in the property.

Businesses rally to prevent shoplifting

Tucson, AZ — Serial shoplifters cost business owners in Pima County $5.91 million a year. On Wednesday, the Pima County Attorney, law enforcement, and local retailers partnered together for the new “We Watch, We Prosecute” campaign to stop thieves.

2016 was the first year ever that 100% of retailers say they were victims of organized retail theft, according to a study by the National Retail Federation.

Police say 80% of organized shoplifters steal because of drug addiction.

The Tucson Metro Chamber brought together retailers, law enforcement and prosecutors to form the Coalition Against Retail Theft (CART).

CART’s “We Watch, We Prosecute” campaign will:

Educate retailers and consumers on protecting themselves from organized theft through workshops.

Increase tools for retailers to identify and help prosecute organized retail thieves by working more with law enforcement.

Resources like signs warning thieves of surveillance cameras to deter theft.

Background Screening As a Commitment to Public Safety

BUSINESS SOLUTIONS The need to hire the most qualified candidate has never been greater. Companies that utilize background screens demonstrate their commitment to ensuring safety.

The need to hire the most qualified candidate, and the inherent risk in hiring the wrong candidate, has never been greater.

What’s at stake

Workplace violence, unethical business practices and misleading résumés are on the rise. The costs of fraud, embezzlement, theft and violence are a multibillion-dollar drain on our economy, bleeding organizations both large and small.

Furthermore, negative publicity associated with negligent hiring — especially as the result of a less than thorough background check, or worse, no background check — can devastate the very foundation of a trusted organization. Now more than ever, companies should be using regulated, professional background screeners.

Less expensive than you think

The most common reason among employers for not conducting background screens is cost. That background screen cost, however, represents a fraction of the cost involved in turnover, termination, re-recruiting, re-hiring and re-training. And that’s best-case scenario for a bad hire.

 

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Tips To Secure Your Home And Family

December 29, 2016 by Leave a Comment

This magazine is dedicated to helping you, the business owner/manager secure your business from threats to your bottom line. However, since the holidays are over, I want to help you with some tips to secure your home and family. I live, eat and breathe this kind of stuff. It is another of my long term experiences.

We tend to look for solutions from technology but in many cases we need to get back to basics. Here are a few quick items to review:

Light-When someone is looking to do no good to your property, they feel more secure if it looks like no one is home. The key is to confuse them and make them feel unsure. Remember, most burglars are lazy. If they are not sure about your house, they will move on. So you should have at least two light timers (three is better) set up and running seven days a week. These should be in different areas of the home and should come on and off at different times. Use the random or security feature found on most timers. This will vary the on/off time every day just a little in case someone is watching the house for a pattern.

This also has another benefit. It is an elegant look for a home. It also is convenient. For example, if you have a small table lamp in your foyer or stairway, you can have that lamp come on in the evenings until past the time you go to bed normally. The light does not need to be really bright. Maybe just a 40 watt bulb. Or use an LED bulb in these lamps instead. Your energy consumption will be almost nothing in the overall picture.

Sound-You may want to hook a timer up to a TV or Radio. A TV’s changing screen/light and sound will cause someone that is outside your home and maybe close enough to hear to have pause. This works best if the window coverings are closed or it is on the second floor. You may not want this option on all the time but it is a great idea for when you are on vacation or gone for a few days.

Mail/Newspaper/Flyers/Trash cans left at the curb-NOTHING says “I am not home” like these accumulating. Have a neighbor pick them up or put them away DAILY.

Safe-Mount a small in-wall-safe in the master bedroom closet behind your hanging clothes and below shoulder level. You can pick up a good little safe for around $100. These safes are mounted between two studs. They only require that you cut the sheet rock (usually a paper template is supplied) and screw the side into the studs on both sides. This allows you to keep cash, jewelry and more, secured and very well hidden.

Water-This really does not have anything to do with security. But if you are going to be gone for a few days or more, shut off the water supply to all toilets, sinks, washing machines and outside faucets (if possible). The average washing machine hose has a life span of five years. You really do not want to come home to a flooded house and an astronomically high water bill.

Alarm Systems-On the higher tech side a basic home alarm system is a great investment. When you have a system, you should cover every outside door and the door from the garage to the inside of the house. Install several motion detectors in areas such as hallways. You do not need to overdo it. What you are trying to do is create a trap effect. The bad guy should not be able to move very far without tripping a motion detector.

Basic alarm monitoring for your home system should be no more than $19/month. If it is more, you should shop around.

I strongly suggest that you have your alarm control send its signals to the Central Station via cellular not over wired phone lines or the internet. Most troubles with an alarm system are usually as a result of wired phone line problems. Cellular (GSM) resolves most of that. Also there is no wire for the burglar to cut. There will be an added monthly cost for monitoring for GSM (cellular).

Newer alarm controls have the ability to be connected to your PC or hand held smart device. This can only happen if your alarm control is connected with GSM (cellular). This is a very nice feature. It allows you to do almost anything remotely that you can do at the alarm keypad in your home. Arm/disarm, bypass….. This feature will also add to your monthly cost.

Cameras-Several cameras mounted around the outside of your home give you the ability to check in via your PC or smart device at any time. This used to be costly with traditional CCTV systems. Now you can put up Wi-Fi cameras that have long life batteries by yourself for a very reasonable cost. Shop around for quality units. A few things to consider when purchasing:

  • Battery life should be measured in years. You do not want to be on a ladder any more than necessary.
  • Is there a battery low indicator that will be emailed to you? The last thing you need is a dead camera when you need it the most.
  • Get cameras that have Infra-Red (IR) illuminators. This allows you to see in total darkness.
  • Be realistic on what you want to see. No camera is as good as the human eye. Two cameras may be needed to see what you want to see in one area.
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Suggestions On How To Improve Inventory

December 29, 2016 by Leave a Comment

Each year retailers take inventory of their merchandise, counting what they have in the store, reconciling that information against sales receipts, vendor credits and receipts and markdowns.  Usually the result is some amount of shortage or merchandise shrink due to merchandise that cannot be accounted for and losses due to certain markdowns and damaged products.  I have in rare instances seen overages, but those are usually the result of offsets from prior year shortages often attributed to paperwork errors.  The store objective each year should be to improve upon the prior year inventory result.  Certainly the best case would be to have zero dollar shortages every year, but that is not a realistic expectation. I try to explain to employees that if one package of gum were to be stolen during the year, you have incurred shortage. There are steps a store owner or manager can take to work towards that yearly improvement and shoot for a zero dollar shrinkage year.

 The first step to improve inventory is to look at merchandise protection strategies in the store.  Are retail anti-theft devices being used to prevent shoplifting as well as employee and vendor theft?  A theft prevention system includes having an electronic article surveillance (EAS) system installed.  This would encompass EAS antennas at entry/exit points, EAS soft tags, labels and hard tags on as many pieces of merchandise as possible and deactivation pads and detachment tools at checkout lanes. By protecting merchandise with retail anti-theft devices, shoplifters and potential dishonest employees are deterred from trying to steal.  EAS protected merchandise also activates alarms if a shopper forgets about an item on the bottom of the shopping cart that has not been paid for and a tag is not removed or deactivated.  Remember, if merchandise hasn’t been paid for, regardless of the intention of the customer, it is shortage.

There are other things that a store can do to improve inventory results from one year to the next:

  • Consider offering incentives to employees who deter a theft through great customer service.  Employees on the sales-floor are your first line of defense against shoplifting.  If they are walking their areas offering assistance, they will walk upon a customer attempting to conceal merchandise, remove items from packaging or tamper with EAS tags.  Offering assistance, remaining in the area and communicating with managers is an effective method of deterrence without accusing someone of stealing. An incentive for reporting this type of activity may be the purchase of a drink or putting the employee in for a weekly or monthly drawing for a $5 gift card.  Be creative.
  • Education/Training – Make sure employees know what your inventory results are and how much was lost in the last inventory.  I always made it a point to share that information and celebrate it when we had good results.  Let your employees know that they make a difference.  Employees also need to know how to properly respond to EAS alarms and recover merchandise without making accusations.  When training is not continuous employees become complacent and begin to wave people out the door who set off an EAS alarm.  Eventually that complacency turns to ignoring the alarms altogether and the system is rendered useless.  Alarm activations also need to be recorded so managers can review for trends and ensure there are no malfunctions.
  • Make employee receipt checks and bag checks mandatory for EVERYONE.  Managers should be the first to show their purchases to an employee for verification.  When employees see that no one is exempt, they will not mind doing it themselves.  Accountability helps prevent theft.
  • Have a program in place for marking merchandise that is purchased for store use.  If  you have to get a pack of pens from your sales-floor for office use, purchase it or account for it through a ledger and then keep the package and mark it with a date and write “store use” or put a sticker on it.  It is easy for merchandise to start being used and not accounted for and it will accumulate in offices from the sales-floor.  Account for EVERYTHING, even a paperclip if it is store use.
  • Small, independent stores may not have corporate markdowns sent to them.  These stores need to evaluate their merchandise and if it isn’t selling, mark them down, but do it incrementally.  Start at 10 or 15% and see if you can move it.  You don’t want to lose profit margin.

Improving inventory is not an impossible task.  Utilize EAS technology to deter and prevent theft.  Educate and train employees and empower them with knowledge on shortage issues and how they impact it.  Profit from reduced shrinkage! 

      

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Can An Improving Economy Lead To A Case Of “Keeping Up With The Jones’s” And An Increase In Employee Theft?

December 29, 2016 by Leave a Comment

Have you been keeping up with the news? It appears the stock market is on the verge of breaking new records.  People are gaining confidence now that some economists are expressing optimism that we are about to see a jump start in economic growth.  Does that mean EVERYONE is going to benefit? Unfortunately, the answer is no. There are many people who will continue to work in their current jobs and experience little personal benefit in their own eyes. What do I mean, “In their own eyes?” Just this, there are some people who are not satisfied with their job, or financial situation, or any number of things in their life and do little or nothing to try to change that. What they WILL do is get jealous when they see others who do well. It may be a co-worker who gets a promotion, a friend who has received a pay raise, a relative who has purchased a new car, there are lots of things that people can get jealous over. Sometimes this jealousy turns into an attitude of “Keeping up with the Jones’s” and can result in someone engaging in dishonest activity so they can have new things too. Frequently those who steal because they haven’t gotten that raise or promotion will try to justify their actions by rationalizing that they deserve it and aren’t being recognized for their contributions.

So what does this mean for the employer? You are excited about increasing sales, selling more merchandise, perhaps hiring more people and even expanding your business. First, you have to be alert to the people you currently have working for you. You should also include involving your supervisors in this since they may be closer to your workers and more likely to hear scuttlebutt than you will in the various work areas. If you have an employee who has been passed over for promotional opportunities make sure you explain to them why they were not chosen and provide feedback and even create a professional development plan with that employee if they express interest. If they don’t want feedback and don’t seek input on their development, they are probably not really interested and may be looking for a promotion for the sake of a promotion. Often this is the employee who will go back to their work center and complain and gripe. You must address this quickly and if the behavior continues get rid of this type of worker, they can create a negative work environment and it does influence others who may normally be great workers.

Watch for employee theft, especially from the disgruntled workers. There is a tendency to see themselves as victims and deserving of something, even if they have to steal it to get it. You may start to see extra money in your registers in an improving economy. You could have a disgruntled cashier who sees that money and since they only received a 2% pay raise on their last review, they decide they are going to give themselves a raise. Watch for all cash shortages, some stores make a minimum of $5 missing before it is addressed. In many instances I had cashiers who stole two or three dollars for lunches for quite a while before moving up to greater amounts of cash theft.  If you start to see any trends, you need to address it early.

Then there is the employee working in the electronics department (as an example) who sees friends or acquaintances buying new televisions, laptop computers, or the latest techy gadget. This is the employee who gets green with jealousy because they aren’t making “enough” and can’t afford these goodies. It is unfortunate but it happens and I have apprehended employees in very similar circumstances. When it came down to the bottom line, after all the excuses were done it was usually a case of, “I just wanted it.” Employee package checks and receipt checks and the use of Electronic Article Surveillance (EAS) retail anti-theft devices often discourages much of this behavior.  I would still suggest you have a discussion with an employee if you hear them complaining or get word of it. You may get a better feel if it is just idle chatter or a potential problem waiting to happen.

An improving economy is exciting for store owners but watch out, those Jones’s may have what your employee wants and that could come at your expense. Make sure you spend time with your employees and listen to what they are saying. Your investment of time may save you headaches in the future.

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Preventing Shoplifting This Holiday Season; Inform Your Employees

December 20, 2016 by Leave a Comment

Many stores, public places, and government  buildings display firearms law posters on the wall where everyone that enters their place will undoubtedly see it.  Some retail stores display their shoplifting policy where customers can see it.  But, many of these places though, fail to educate their employees as to their store policy when stopping a shoplifter.  Who is responsible of making sure every single employee knows the policy of the store? When is this supposed to happen? At the time of hiring?  For many retail stores, preventing shoplifting begins by educating their employees about the policies and procedures they need to follow when stopping a shoplifter.

For more about this and other  stories, follow the links below.

Home Depot employees fired after following suspect

PALM COAST, Fla. (WOFL FOX 35) – Four former employees at a Home Depot in Florida were fired after they attempted to stop a shoplifter in November.

Jeffrey Miller, 59, George Ippolito, 56, Joe Spector, 29, and Jazmin Kelly, 27, all worked together at a Home Depot in Palm Coast, Florida. On November 19, the 4 employees attempted to track down a customer who appeared to be shoplifting at the store.

However the co-workers did not know that their act to prevent crime went against company policy.

The Home Depot released a statement in regards to the incident: “Pursuing shoplifters in the store or in the parking lot is extremely dangerous and risks the safety of everyone, which is why we only allow trained security personnel to do so. We’ve had instances of serious injury and even fatality in our stores. No amount of merchandise is worth risking the safety of others.”

The employees expressed shock by their termination as Fox 35’s Kelly Joyce reports from Flagler County in the video above.

The suspect has been identified as 22-year-old Brandon Charles Edward Mullins Lowe of Hastings, Florida who allegedly admitted to stealing close to $1,000 worth of tools from the store. Lowe was being held in the Flagler County Jail on grand theft charges.

Police: Shoplifting doubles near holidays

As shoppers hit area stores for the impending holidays, so will shoplifters, say area police.

“It probably doubles during the peak of the holiday shopping season,” said Logan Township Police Chief Tim Mercer, referring to the number of retail theft calls the township’s officers will handle.

Mercer said officers typically get one to two calls each week, and with the increase in retail thefts also comes increases in other crimes related to shopping, such as identity theft, where people are opening up credit cards in other people’s names, and thefts from vehicles.

Most of the incidents of retail theft and other thefts occur at two highly concentrated shopping areas — Logan Town Centre and the Logan Valley Mall, Mercer said.

Stores are reluctant to talk about shoplifting, either out of a fear of calling attention to their stores and becoming targets or because they don’t want to divulge exactly how they deal with retail thefts.

One store manager of a longtime township store, who spoke only if his name of business wasn’t published, said stores take two approaches to dealing with shoplifters — either they try to catch them or they try to prevent them from stealing in the first place.

Five Steps to Recruiting the Right Loss Prevention Professionals

The success of any organization is determined by the talent of its people. In his book Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap…and Others Don’t, Jim Collins put it this way: “People are not your most important asset. The right people are.”

Whether it’s a company, a loss prevention and safety department, or a sports team, the more talented people within the organization, the greater chance it has to succeed. Loading any organization with talented loss prevention professionals requires a comprehensive five-step people strategy.

Want an awesome LP career? Download this FREE Special Report, How to Find the Best Loss Prevention Jobs and Build a Successful Loss Prevention Career.

Recruiting. The first component of this strategy is recruiting. It all starts with a sound recruiting strategy to ensure there is a sufficient pool of applicants.

 

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How To stop A Shoplifter?

December 13, 2016 by Leave a Comment

Police Departments across the nation are busy this holiday season launching operations aiming at catching shoplifters.  Serial shoplifters go from store to store stealing hundreds of dollars worth of merchandise from each store.  Police and retailers alike have been working together to stop this vicious and financially crippling crime.  Shoplifters are not necessarily from the area where they commit their crime, there are serial shoplifters that go from state to state, and from store to store, stealing as much as they can.  For a retailer, the hundreds of dollars stolen from their store is a financial burden, and jeopardizes their ability to stay open for business.

For more about this and other stories, follow the links below.

How local law enforcement are working to stop organized retail crime

BUFFALO, N.Y.–

Organized retail crime is rising across the country, according to the National Retail Federation. In Western New York, local law enforcement said they’re constantly working to stop it.

“They’ll steal goods and products from various stores, sometimes taking orders,” Officer Craig Johnson, field intelligence officer for the Amherst Police Department, said. Johnson said organized shoplifting rings operate locally and even statewide.

“[They’ll go] down the thru way through the major cities, Albany, Syracuse, Rochester, Buffalo, even to Erie, Pennsylvania,” he said. HE said the thieves use stolen ID’s and credit cards to rent cars. They’ll even sometimes steal a license plate from another car to put on their rental. Then they spend hours stealing from stores, including items like clothing, medication, baby formula and even appliances. They then move on to another city by the time law enforcement is notified.

“They could be from different states. They could be from downstate New York. It’s very hard to find out that information of who these people are,” Johnson said.

Serial Shoplifters Target Burlington Stores 

It was a busy day for Amanda Bean. First, she stole several hundred dollars’ worth of merchandise from a store that shares her surname — L.L.Bean. Burlington police cited her for retail theft and released her. Two hours later, Bean allegedly stole goods valued at several hundred dollars from the Skirackon Main Street. Bean was again charged with retail theft and let go.

Since that day in April, Bean, 33, of St. Albans, pleaded guilty to the L.L.Bean theft, but her stealing apparently hasn’t stopped. She has been arrested on similar charges twice — including on October 22, while she was serving a community-based furlough for the L.L.Bean theft. All told, Bean has been arrested more than 20 times and has at least nine retail theft convictions, along with convictions for other crimes.

Downtown merchants are frustrated with frequent fliers like Bean. While other crimes such as burglary are declining in Burlington, retail theft is escalating, police say. Between 2012 and 2015, annual retail theft calls to Burlington police increased from 341 to 423. This year, the trend continued. The number of calls between January and November 1, 2016, totaled 404, compared to 374 over the same time period last year.

‘Operation Blitz’ To Target Professional Shoplifters

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — As we look to get started on our holidayshopping lists, police will be looking for professional shoplifters.

Beginning on Black Friday, more than 30 Twin Cities law enforcementagencies will launch “Operation Blitz.”

The first-of-its-kind partnership in the state will target organized retail theft and financial fraud.

Police showed WCCO how these professionals do their best to avoid detection.

Take what police say happened at a St. Paul CVS two weeks ago, when a man walked in with a gym bag and loaded it with cleaning supplies. He was out of the store in under 40 seconds.

 

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