Securing Handbags is easy with Clothing Security!

I worked a case regarding a theft ring that was into designer handbags. I partnered up with one of the other retailers in the mall where we were anchor stores. They had suffered big losses in this department, and were sure that we would be next on the list.

Immediately we got to work on our clothing security. The checkpoint tags were already in the store for a different product group so the most obvious solution was to push clothing security into the handbag department.

In addition to the checkpoint tags, we talked to our handbag department, telling them to be extra vigilant. If they saw even the slightest thing that made them suspicious, they were to call us. We made extra visits to the department during our store walk-thrus and made sure our CCTV covered the area completely. We were sure we were set.

Sure enough, a week later, the ring came into our store. It was right at closing time when the associates were finishing up for the day. There were five of them. They came in, each grabbed as many bags as they could and ran out the door. I heard the clothing alarm, raced to the door, and saw as the last one exited. They had a car waiting for them.

Not wanting to face a five to one showdown, I contacted the local PD and gave them the license plate number from their vehicle. I knew exactly what had been taken and had the video to back it up. Because of the checkpoint tags setting the clothing alarm off, we had an immediate reaction to the theft.

The PD was able to recover all but two of the bags because of this timely information.

Visit the Loss Prevention Store to purchase Checkpoint Tags, a Clothing Alarm, Clothing Security or Clothing Security Tags to put Security Tags on Clothes and an Electronic Article Surveillance or EAS system.

For more information on Checkpoint tags, clothing security, clothing alarm, or clothing security tags how they can work with your Electronic Article Surveillance or EAS system contact us at security tags on clothes or call 1.770.426.0547

Even Children’s clothing can go missing

When you work in soft line retail shrink used to not be a huge concern in children’s clothing. The main focus was on products like jewelry or leather coats, jeans and athletic shoes. Children’s clothes were never on any big watch list, until now.

I don’t know if it is because more people are out of work, or because kids clothes are getting more expensive, but it seems like our children’s department is suffering more and more every day. If you haven’t already, I would suggest starting to use clothing security tags on children’s clothes.

For the baby and toddler clothes, it would be easy to use checkpoint tags for clothing security. Since these items typically are not tried on in the store (like adult’s clothing) a hard tag would not impede the shopping experience in any way.

For bigger kid’s clothes, clothing security would be easy with a soft tag. The non-adhesive tags could be slid into a pocket. Soft tags can also be attached as a price tag or barcode along with a hard tag for extra protection.

There are multiple Checkpoint tags to choose from to facilitate proper tagging based on the type of clothing.

Visit the Loss Prevention Store to purchase Checkpoint Tags, a Clothing Alarm, Clothing Security or Clothing Security Tags to put Security Tags on Clothes and an Electronic Article Surveillance or EAS system. 

For more information on Checkpoint tags, clothing security, clothing alarm, or clothing security tags how they can work with your Electronic Article Surveillance or EAS system contact us at security tags on clothes or call 1.770.426.0547

Did you realy think you would get away with that?

I never fail to see something new in my internal cases. Sometimes it makes me laugh. Sometimes I think about how much more productive they could have been if they had only used their cleverness for good instead of evil. Sometimes I just look at the employee and sigh. That’s how this last case was, one big “did you really think you could get away with that” sigh.

Clothing security is a huge focus in our stores. A lot of inventory loss has been avoided because of our diligence. We do a great job using Checkpoint tags to coincide with our clothing alarm. With security tags on clothes, the losses we do incur are easier to track. This is where this particular employee messed up.

I was reviewing our report for clothing alarms that happened before and after hours. One incident had shown up. When I reviewed on our CCTV system, it showed an employee leaving with one of our brand new jackets and a pair of pants on. I reviewed her during the day and saw that she had come in to work with a different outfit on, and no bag. When I reviewed for a purchase, there wasn’t one.

This employee had stolen a brand new outfit for her date that night. She said she was going to return it, which is why she didn’t bother to take the clothing security tags off. This employee simply thought it wasn’t a big deal to “borrow” clothes from work?!? If it hadn’t been for the clothing security tags, the clothing alarm wouldn’t have gone off. It was an easy case; you just followed the obvious trail she left behind.

Visit the Loss Prevention Store to purchase Checkpoint Tags, a Clothing Alarm, Clothing Security or Clothing Security Tags to put Security Tags on Clothes and an Electronic Article Surveillance or EAS system.

For more information on Checkpoint tags, clothing security, clothing alarm, or clothing security tags how they can work with your Electronic Article Surveillance or EAS system contact us at security tags on clothes or call 1.770.426.0547

What’s your resolution?

I love hearing about people’s New Years resolutions. Some of them are so far fetched you know they won’t make it through the first week. Some of them are pretty typical, you know the ones, eat right, drink less, workout more. That’s the one that perks my ears when I hear employees talking about it,” workout more”.

Now I think it’s amazing to want to take charge of your life and your health. I also know that about this time of year, we get in fresh new shipments of athletic attire and inevitably we have at least one employee stealing their way into their New Year’s Resolution.

It’s because of this trend that I emphatically start putting security tags on clothes starting with the athletic wear. I know that clothing security tags are strong visual deterrent to the theft of that particular item. I like that the clothing security tags do most of the work for us. The majority of the employees stay honest because they don’t want to contend with beating a clothing alarm.

Clothing security doesn’t just stop there for us. We also talk about the high shrink departments every chance we get. Just as shoplifters avoid being noticed, employees are less likely to steal if they know the area is under constant surveillance.

After the initial resolution has either wilted or become a habit, I can put to rest my worries of protecting our athletic wear. I know its now time to move on to protecting the next target.

Visit the Loss Prevention Store to purchase Checkpoint Tags, a Clothing Alarm, Clothing Security or Clothing Security Tags to put Security Tags on Clothes and an Electronic Article Surveillance or EAS system. 

For more information on Checkpoint tags, clothing security, clothing alarm, or clothing security tags how they can work with your Electronic Article Surveillance or EAS system contact us at security tags on clothes or call 1.770.426.0547

My First Apprehension…

I was alone at my first LP job when I started watching a woman on camera that entered with a crumpled, empty shopping bag. The previous day I finished training and was released to detain shoplifters. I hadn’t made a solo arrest yet; I was incredibly nervous and secretly hoped this was nothing. I wanted my first stop to be with another agent to assist with surveillance and back me up during the apprehension. Although I could feel myself shaking, I went to the sales floor to perform live observation; after all, it was my responsibility to maintain the store’s clothing security.

After locating the customer, I watched her check merchandise for Checkpoint tags and select a handful of tops without clothing alarms. She placed them on a rounder, held the shopping bag under the merchandise, and slipped each item off its hanger so it fell in. With this, I realized I must stop her when she exited. As she headed to the door, my nerves took over and I was hit with a wave of nausea. I was going to be sick and made a beeline for the restroom. I went to find the subject when my queasiness had passed, but of course she was gone. This wasn’t my proudest moment and while my boss was kind about it, I felt I had failed to preserve my store’s clothing security.

Employees can make mistakes; they call in sick, they take breaks, and no one can afford hiring enough people to watch all merchandise. Retailers that understand this utilize clothing security tags to fill in the gaps that naturally occur if a mission as significant as clothing security is left only to people. Clothing alarms are most effective when used uniformly and on merchandise that would hurt the store the most to lose. That way, if a rookie investigator has anxiety, it won’t break the business.

Visit the Loss Prevention Store to purchase a clothing alarm or clothing security tags and an Electronic Article Surveillance or EAS system.

For more information on Checkpoint tags, clothing security, clothing alarm, or clothing security tags how they can work with your Electronic Article Surveillance or EAS system contact us at security tags on clothes or call 1.770.426.0547

Fitting room theft…

While employed as an agent for a department store, one issue that we never stopped confronting was fitting room theft. It might be assumed that the amount of shoplifting that occurs in this location would probably be similar, if not equal, to the restroom because both places offer privacy. However, carrying an armful of clothing into a designated area for trying on apparel isn’t devious at all, whereas smuggling merchandise into a lavatory should raise some red flags.

Shoplifters are normally prepared for a store’s fitting room procedures and have an arsenal of techniques to thwart clothing security efforts. Even if an attendant is diligently counting merchandise in and out, they may have apparel double-hung on one hanger, have items hidden inside other items, or “swap-out” their old clothing for a new article without causing a clothing alarm. So how can retailers reduce their vulnerability to fitting room theft and beef up their store’s clothing security when thieves are continuously improving the way they steal?

The best and most-widely used solution for fitting room pilferage is the application of clothing security tags or security tags on clothes. Depending on a store’s needs, they’re available in an array of sizes, shapes, and styles. In the security industry, Checkpoint tags are unsurpassed for good reason: for over forty years they have worked with retailers to provide innovative and technologically-advanced solutions to address theft. Even if a customer going into the fitting room looks suspicious, retailers can be confident that Checkpoint tags won’t let their merchandise disappear in there.

Visit the Loss Prevention Store to purchase Checkpoint Tags, a Clothing Alarm, Clothing Security or Clothing Security Tags to put Security Tags on Clothes and an Electronic Article Surveillance or EAS system.

For more information on Checkpoint tags, clothing security, clothing alarm, or clothing security tags how they can work with your Electronic Article Surveillance or EAS system contact us at security tags on clothes or call 1.770.426.0547

Protecting Winter Clothing with Clothing Security

The lower the temperature the higher the demand for cold weather clothing to beat the holiday chills.  Many shoplifters expect some type of clothing security and prey on the most vulnerable items.  Placing security tags on cloths is a great visual deterrent for shoplifters.

While working for a major retailer there were three (3) types of clothing security tags I used frequently during the busy holiday shopping season; checkpoint tags, a clothing alarm or ink tags – sometimes more than one.

Checkpoint tags are great for securing long sleeve items such as turtle necks, long-sleeve polo shirts and athletic wear.  If I wanted to secure a bulky item such as a jacket, I always used a clothing alarm or ink tag.

A couple of years ago the major retailer I worked for had a problem with homeless customers stealing jackets so they decided to increase clothing security by placing security tags on cloths. I placed a 3alarm on our high end leather jackets and ink tags or checkpoint tags on our bulky cold weather jackets.  When a customer attempted to exit the store without purchasing the jacket a door alarm would sound off.  If the customer attempted to remove the ink tag before they left the store they would rupture the ink cartridge.

The fact that the merchandise was protected by security tags on cloths caused would be shoplifters to think twice before stealing.  We finished the quarter with great sales that year and clothing security tags gave us an added layer of protection against jacket theft that helped us reduce the number of thefts by 75% that winter.

Visit the Loss Prevention Store to purchase Checkpoint Tags, a Clothing Alarm, Clothing Security or Clothing Security Tags to put Security Tags on Clothes and an Electronic Article Surveillance or EAS system. 

For more information on Checkpoint tags, clothing security, clothing alarm, or clothing security tags how they can work with your Electronic Article Surveillance or EAS system contact us at security tags on clothes or call 1.770.426.0547

The Cost Effective Alternative

Retailers worldwide have felt the impact of the global economic crisis and cost effective asset protection initiatives have been developed to meet the demand. By reducing the rising cost of clothing security, the retail community can pass these savings on to the consumer.  Electronic Article Surveillance (EAS) or other high-end technology can become expensive because they require installation, upgrades and constant maintenance.  The asset protection community now understands that clothing security tags are efficient and can deter theft while maintaining a commitment to outstanding customer service.

Placing security tags on clothes requires minimal training and clothing security tags or a clothing alarm can be easily adapted to meet the current and future needs of a merchant.  Clothing security does not adversely impact the commitment to customer service and placing security tags on clothes or using a clothing alarm will not damage the merchandise.  Clothing security tags are a simple and cost effective method to reduce internal and external theft through deterrence.

If you want to reduce company shortage and maintain your commitment to customer service, placing security tags on clothes is an affordable asset protection initiative.  To purchase clothing security tags or a clothing alarm please visit the loss prevention store.

Visit the Loss Prevention Store to purchase Checkpoint Tags, a Clothing Alarm, Clothing Security or Clothing Security Tags to put Security Tags on Clothes and an Electronic Article Surveillance or EAS system.

For more information on Checkpoint tags, clothing security, clothing alarm, or clothing security tags how they can work with your Electronic Article Surveillance or EAS system contact us at security tags on clothes or call 1.770.426.0547

The good thing about missed tags…

It’s not an ideal situation, but you’ve got to be kidding yourself if you don’t admit that the occasional security tag on clothes is missed. While we try hard to ensure total accuracy, it can be difficult to be 100% all the time. Fear not, there is a bright side to this situation. Recently while watching cameras in my store I observed a subject with a large bag browsing the denim. What tipped me off that this subject was suspicious was that the subject wasn’t just browsing for the right size or color; they were looking for the pairs that didn’t have checkpoint tags attached. After further observation I observed the subject concealing the merchandise and I was able to apprehend and recover it.

Checkpoint tags are not easy to defeat by the average shoplifter. However everybody knows that as our technology in clothing security advances, so does the professional shoplifter. Yet again, there is a bright side! A few weeks ago two individuals came into my store with bags from another retailer. The subjects began grabbing a large amount of merchandise very quickly and we barely had a chance to clear the fitting rooms before they got in. There was no time to get a detailed list of what they grabbed and they paid no attention to whether of not the merchandise had clothing security tags on it. They must have known a way to remove the tags so that they didn’t set off the clothing alarm at the exit. All we knew was that they went in with about 30 items. When they came out it was tough to know for certain, but their bags seemed a bit larger. We rushed to the fitting room to find it a mess with about half the stuff they went in with. The biggest sign we had to know that they had stolen was the pile of about 10 clothing security tags hidden under some of the merchandise. After apprehending the subjects we were able to recover our merchandise and identify professional shoplifters that had been terrorizing the area for some time.

The ideal situation is for clothing security to protect our merchandise from theft every time. But the bottom line is that everything can be defeated, and the key is to use the flaws of security tags on clothes to your benefit.

 Visit the Loss Prevention Store to purchase Checkpoint Tags, a Clothing Alarm, Clothing Security or Clothing Security Tags to put Security Tags on Clothes and an Electronic Article Surveillance or EAS system. 

For more information on Checkpoint tags, clothing security, clothing alarm, or clothing security tags how they can work with your Electronic Article Surveillance or EAS system contact us at security tags on clothes or call 1.770.426.0547

Clothing Security designed for Coat Theft

Winter coats are expensive. Shoppers know it, retailers know it, and most of all the shoplifters know it. Because of their high cost, coats can easily become a target for retail theft. From boosters to thieves of opportunity, coats are a quick option.

I have seen many instances where shoplifters come into the store and target coats, specifically those lacking clothing security tags and a clothing alarm. By using security tags on clothes and coats you can have a huge impact on winter shrink in your store. There is a wide variety of clothing security tags available to fit your needs, and the use of a hard tag can do wonders in deterring theft.

Sometimes the simple solution of placing security tags on clothes can solve your problems; other times you need to take more drastic measures. Alpha Security CableLoks are a great clothing alarm product that I have used to effectively deter and identify theft activity in my store. These devices have provided great clothing security for high theft merchandise above and beyond that of what a hard tag can do.

Alpha Security CableLoks can provide heightened clothing security to your merchandise by not only notifying you that someone has attempted to leave your store with unpaid merchandise, but can also provide an ongoing alarm on the device to alert you to the location of the merchandise once it  has left your store.

The Alpha Security CableLoks clothing alarm is easy to install and even easier to remove with an Alpha Key. I have had great success with very little training to get my team using this product. Simply run the cable through one of the arms of the coat or other clothing item you wish to secure and clip the cable back into the unit. Unlike hard tags, this clothing security device is noninvasive and does not penetrate the merchandise in any way, which is perfect for that high dollar merchandise you want to secure.

Visit the Loss Prevention Store to purchase Checkpoint Tags, a Clothing Alarm, Clothing Security or Clothing Security Tags to put Security Tags on Clothes and an Electronic Article Surveillance or EAS system.

For more information on Checkpoint tags, clothing security, clothing alarm, or clothing security tags how they can work with your Electronic Article Surveillance or EAS system contact us at security tags on clothes or call 1.770.426.0547