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04-09-2023, 08:06 AM
UPDATED 10 HOURS AGO
NEW YORK - Toothpaste, chocolate, washing powder and deodorant – everyday products are increasingly under lock and key at US retailers, as petty theft and organised shoplifting rise while consumers grapple with costs of living.
Major retailers Walmart and Target, drugstore chains CVS and Walgreens, as well as home improvement firm Home Depot and footwear seller Foot Locker are among those to have voiced concern over more thefts – including violent incidents – in their latest earnings results.
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retailers lost an estimated US$94.5 billion (S$127.9 billion) nationwide to “shrink” in 2021 alone. Retail shrink means the loss of inventory from factors including staff theft, shoplifting or administrative errors.
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retailers on average saw a 26.5 per cent rise in organised retail crime in 2021
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As a result, stores have been installing transparent walls with locks on shelves, sometimes padlocked chains on refrigerators, and scattering call buttons in aisles for staff. Unprotected shelves are often sparsely stocked as well, to limit shoplifting.
But such security measures are not always an effective deterrent.
In June, a man in a hooded jacket and face mask used a blowtorch – in full view of customers and employees – to melt locked cases at a Walgreens outlet in Queens, New York. He then filled a bag with products and left without paying
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some retailers are asking their staff not to intervene in the event of theft and not to contact the police, for their own safety.
Some are considering closing sites, with Giant mulling the closure of a Washington supermarket where theft and violence “is significant, and getting worse”.
......
online users are reporting more “flash rob” incidents where a group surges into a store, seizes items within reach and runs off.
On Aug 12, in a Nordstrom store in Los Angeles, around 30 masked people stole more than US$300,000 worth of luxury items and used bear spray on a security guard
https://www.straitstimes.com/world/unite...ob-attacks
NEW YORK - Toothpaste, chocolate, washing powder and deodorant – everyday products are increasingly under lock and key at US retailers, as petty theft and organised shoplifting rise while consumers grapple with costs of living.
Major retailers Walmart and Target, drugstore chains CVS and Walgreens, as well as home improvement firm Home Depot and footwear seller Foot Locker are among those to have voiced concern over more thefts – including violent incidents – in their latest earnings results.
......
retailers lost an estimated US$94.5 billion (S$127.9 billion) nationwide to “shrink” in 2021 alone. Retail shrink means the loss of inventory from factors including staff theft, shoplifting or administrative errors.
......
retailers on average saw a 26.5 per cent rise in organised retail crime in 2021
......
As a result, stores have been installing transparent walls with locks on shelves, sometimes padlocked chains on refrigerators, and scattering call buttons in aisles for staff. Unprotected shelves are often sparsely stocked as well, to limit shoplifting.
But such security measures are not always an effective deterrent.
In June, a man in a hooded jacket and face mask used a blowtorch – in full view of customers and employees – to melt locked cases at a Walgreens outlet in Queens, New York. He then filled a bag with products and left without paying
......
some retailers are asking their staff not to intervene in the event of theft and not to contact the police, for their own safety.
Some are considering closing sites, with Giant mulling the closure of a Washington supermarket where theft and violence “is significant, and getting worse”.
......
online users are reporting more “flash rob” incidents where a group surges into a store, seizes items within reach and runs off.
On Aug 12, in a Nordstrom store in Los Angeles, around 30 masked people stole more than US$300,000 worth of luxury items and used bear spray on a security guard
https://www.straitstimes.com/world/unite...ob-attacks
