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

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

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

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

We are frequently asked what the difference is between Alpha Security devices that have 1 Alarm, 2 Alarm and 3 Alarm features. In the Clothing Security world we can use those devices in conjunction with a Clothing Alarm and other clothing security tags. These devices are used for merchandise that we have a more serious theft problem with or that shoplifters have targeted that may not be able to utilize traditional security tags on clothes.

Alpha Security 1 Alarm – These types of Clothing Security tags or devices will only trigger the antennas at the doors. A regular hard tag or label will do this. However, Alpha also has Spider Wraps, Cable Loks and other items that will cause an alarm and can sometimes be more conducive to your packaging needs.

Alpha Security 2 Alarm – A 2 alarm device will do what a 1 alarm device does plus it will “self-alarm”. Self-alarm means that if a shoplifter tries to remove the device by either cutting the cables, prying the device off or damaging it, the device itself will go into alarm. These 2 alarm devices have a built in sounder that produces about 90 dB of sound. That will immediately draw attention to the shoplifter. Normal repeated use by customers and store personnel will not cause an alarm. These devices are very robust.

Alpha Security 3 Alarm – These devices do everything that a 1 and 2 alarm device do plus when the shoplifter tries to leave the property the 3 alarm devices built in sounder, again about 90 dB goes off. The shoplifter then has a choice they can run down the street or mall with this sounder going off, attracting attention to themselves or they can drop the merchandise. The sounder will last up to 10 minutes once the shoplifter passes through the antennas.

These Clothing Security tags are as durable as any Checkpoint Tags or Alpha Clothing Security device. They have excellent construction, solid plastic welds and high quality electronic components. Of course the added benefit is that they are reusable over and over saving you money and labor. Alpha High Theft Solutions are not intended to be for all merchandise. It is clearly more cost effective to use Checkpoint Tags for the bulk of your merchandise. But remember your Clothing Alarm is only as good as the security tags on clothes.

 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

Having a clothing alarm in your store is obviously the best clothing security device you can employ. That being said the system is only as good as the people and policies that work and are enforced within those same four walls. Being a multi unit loss prevention manager allowed me to see how good or how bad a clothing alarm could work depending on the store staff. In the good stores the employees were trained from day one on the importance of clothing security, how to place security tags on clothes, how the clothing security tags functioned and how to properly react to a clothing alarm.

Knowledgeable store managers understood that having a Checkpoint system was a benefit that if worked with properly could reduce the store’s shrink. They also understood that the weakest employee would be their weakest link in shrink reduction. An inept employee could have negative effects on the clothing alarm system in a number of ways; for example, they could improperly place security tags on clothes causing damage to the product or offering little or no deterrence to the potential shoplifter, they could simply forget to apply the checkpoint tags and they could improperly react to a clothing alarm by overreacting or not reacting at all. The good store managers are always on top of training and auditing compliance of the consistency and proper application of the checkpoint tags.

One of my stores was constantly having issues with attempts and successful defeats of the clothing security tags. This is a huge red flag that there are much larger problems within the store. I immediately called my district sales counterpart to review and crunch some numbers. We sat down and reviewed inventory counts as well as daily, weekly and monthly sales trends and quickly realized that shrink was trending up and sales were trending down. I knew this would be the case but I wanted my sales partner to be there when I put the two trends together so that he could see how I came about that conclusion from a few defeated checkpoint tags. In an attempt to defeat security tags on clothes you bring a lot of attention to yourself as well as make a lot of noise. Having this many repeated offenses within one store told me that the staff was not employing good customer service and had become task oriented as opposed to paying attention to their surroundings and more importantly to the customer. I invited my sales partner to sit in the LP office and watch the performance of his staff. Within an hour we had concluded that indeed a mass training effort was needed, and as a side note he helped me and one of my store detectives apprehend a shoplifter who had cut a couple checkpoint tags off of some shirts and stuffed them down his pants.

My sales partner could not believe we had found poor sales numbers and poor customer service practices as a result of finding defeated clothing security tags. I explained to him that the checkpoint system is helpful on many levels and every piece if studied can give you insight as to the entire business not merely loss prevention. From that point on we shared a great partnership that opened many insights for both of us into either side of the business.

That type of partnership allows for deeper understanding of business decisions that on the surface you with which you may not agree. Clothing security is imperative and necessary but one must never forget to utilize every facet of the checkpoint system. I always tell my peers never doubt what a checkpoint system can do for your business.

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

All of us within the loss prevention field have had those moments where we question how people can prove to be so lacking in common sense or logic.

It wasn’t until around five in the afternoon last Saturday that our shoplifter du jour walked through the first floor mall entry point.  Right away the woman set off every alert signal in the profession: clothes that didn’t fit the weather, an almost immediate focus on the cameras, and she made a path for one of the most secluded corners of the first floor, which just so happened to be located next to the designer shirts.

With two LP detectives observing through the CCTV and one on the floor we bore witness to this young woman pulling two empty shopping bags from her pockets and then began moving from rack to rack deftly pulling clothes from their hangers and dropping them in her bags in front of dozens of other customers, some of whom spoke out or reported her actions to store employees.  She paid no attention to the fact that there were Checkpoint tags on the items she selected.  It took her all of three minutes to get her fill and try to escape through another entrance where immediately all of the clothing security tags triggered the alarm just as two LP detectives and three local police officers converged on her.  In spite of the witnesses who pointed her out, in spite of the clothing alarm that alerted everyone to her theft, in spite of the blatant video evidence she protested her innocence and insisted we were all crazy and she would see us on the end of a lawsuit.

Right now she is facing five years in prison for the extent of her crimes.

 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

Today my store was the victim of the perfidious workings of an organized retail crime (ORC) group.  They bypassed everything from the clothing alarm to the Checkpoint tags as though they weren’t even in place.  In spite of their ability to surpass our clothing security measures, they failed in the end due a foolish oversight on their part (and perhaps a small amount of carelessness and arrogance).

Less than ten minutes after the first group of three women had escaped to their vehicle and fled the mall’s property (without anyone able to spot a license plate unfortunately) our office received a phone call about a man attempting to return nearly three hundred dollars of clothing product on the second floor, without a receipt.  Some of the pieces still had clothing security tags on them.

Under our advisement, and a second from management, the return was denied and the man left in a hurry through the third floor where I was waiting to follow on foot.  Sure enough, after tailing him along the outside of the mall for almost three minutes, I found him getting into a car that contained the three women who had stolen the clothing only moments prior.  I managed a walk-by that allowed me to call in the license plate number and a full description of the car to the local police.

Clothing security isn’t always such a task, with the foot pursuits and police intervention, but it seems to be becoming more and more common an occurrence these days.  Despite the fact that the Checkpoint tags and clothing alarms were defeated so effortlessly by them, the tools did provide us with the time and means to identify a rather experienced organized crime group.

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

Although we wish our LP careers were perfect we all have moments when we just get beat.

Today was one of those days for me.

I was alone in my office and dealing with half a dozen other problems when it happened.  While listening to the droning monotone of a liability investigator on the other end of the office phone I kept myself busy by scanning through cameras on the CCTV monitor closest to me.  At the fifteen minute mark of my conversation I noticed a man who looked completely out of place in the store’s children’s clothing department.  Given his appearance and his unnaturally stuffed shopping bag through which I could see security tags on clothes, my attention shifted from dealing with the accident aftermath to observing the man much more closely.

Less than sixty seconds later I hung up on the liability investigator.

The man had selected three pairs of children’s jeans and a child’s printed sweatshirt and rapidly moved away from the department towards the nearby housewares area.  As soon as I paged for a store manager to dial my office extension the man took off down to the first floor in a jog.  I radioed mall security with his description and called local law enforcement as I ran out my office and could hear the Checkpoint tags set off the clothing alarm as the man crossed the threshold into the mall and went into a full sprint.  Other LP units in the mall had eyes on him even as he started ripping clothing security tags off the stolen merchandise as he ran, but somehow he not only made it to his vehicle, he also managed to elude police and avoid being identified.

Even with obvious clothing security in place, it only took a two minute grab and dash job to undo it all. Though security tags on clothes are effective they can in some cases be defeated. The only way to truly be diligent in our duties as LP professionals is to use all of the tools in our arsenal including CCTV and Checkpoint tags but even then we are sometimes defeated.

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

With the holidays fast approaching, many businesses are getting ready for an increase of sales that comes with this being the busiest retail time of the year. The increased customer base can translate to more money for your business, but it can also mean more people trying to steal your merchandise. The last thing you want to be worried about is theft. One of the best ways to utilize clothing security is through security tags on clothes.

With clothing security tags, you can be more worried about ghosts and ghouls than shoplifters. At the stores I cover as a loss prevention agent, the managers and associates want to place their full focus on ensuring the customer has an awesome experience in finding the perfect clothes for their friends and family. Not all stores have the resources for a full loss prevention team so utilizing Checkpoint tags can make a huge difference in putting a scare on the holiday shoplifters that can plague your store.

Clothing security tags are easy and quick to install. They work with the entire clothing security system to sound an alarm when someone attempts to take your merchandise outside of the store. They do what all shoplifters want to avoid: draw attention. Shoplifters are familiar with clothing alarm devices and they would rather go somewhere else than risk getting caught removing the security tags on clothes. The devices keep the merchandise on the shelves so your customers can find the perfect presents.

Instead of letting the shoplifters put the “boo” in your night, install clothing security tags and scare those thieves away!

Visit the Loss Prevention Store to purchase a clothing alarm or clothing security tags.

For more information on Checkpoint tags, clothing security, clothing alarm, or clothing security tags contact us at security tags on clothes or call 1.770.426.0547