You Can’t Always Count The Hangers

Whether you are in a big box store or in a compact store front, if you are in the clothing business, you need some type of clothing security to keep your inventory from walking out the door. It doesn’t matter if it’s all new fashions, second hand vintage, or even a specialty boutique. There are blogs dedicated to educating people on how to steal, and they are very popular online reads. It amazes me when I read them and so many readers participate in the ongoing conversations about what they have gotten away with. They post the names of the stores they pilfer from, so word spreads quickly on which stores are easiest to steal from. They post pictures of their hauls and there are plenty of admirers and followers of these blogs. Almost all of these threads teach people how to remove security tags on clothes while in the fitting rooms. They are basically playing a game of cat and mouse, and daring one another to get the most merchandise. This new alarming trend of daring and brazen clothing thefts are on the rise. If your store gets named on one of  these blogs, you better get ready for an onslaught of shoplifting attempts.

My daughter was shopping in a couple clothing stores just yesterday. This was a new small store that had just opened in a strip mall, and they had done a good job of making sure everything was protected. I was impressed with their commitment to putting security tags on clothes. We shopped several different little stores, just browsing and enjoying the day. But, as always, I was on the prowl for new innovative ideas for asset protection methods. It’s always good to steal and duplicate the best ideas at my own store, which is a small retail pharmacy. There was one store in particular that I had to just chalk up as a fail though, for their complete lack of clothing security. There were no signs of security tagging, very few staff on the sales floor, and very lax monitoring of the fitting rooms. My daughter picked out a couple things to go try on and the guy letting people in back there counted her items and told her to make sure she brought the items back out on their hangers. I thought that might be a good system. But when she came back out, he was nowhere around to make sure she had the same number she went in with. I’m sure it won’t be long before that store gets very popular on one of those blogs.

Clothing security really needs to be a priority, not an option. Attaching security tags on clothes, like Checkpoint tags, is paramount. They can be adhered to the price tag like stickers for an obvious presence. Or they can be placed in seams and hidden in pockets. Either way, if someone attempts to leave with clothing that still has active tags attached, the staff will be quickly alerted.  Checkpoint tags are also available in other options, like hard tags that can be pinned on or attached via lanyard. The lanyard option is great for items like handbags, belts and shoes. Also remember, if you offer fitting room services, you need to monitor their use. Check on your shoppers going in and coming out. If you can’t always be there to count the hangers though,  you can still count on Checkpoint tags to help deter thefts.  

For more information on Clothing Security, contact us or call: 1.770.426.0547