Clothing Security-2 , Security Tags on Clothes-3 , CP Tags-3
5 Things To Protect With Clothing Security Tools
I have a friend that works at a discount clothing retailer and her daily job is to attach security tags on clothes. She opens the deliveries, organizes everything by size, and gets busy figuring out the best places for the tags. I think this particular retailer has figured out that just because they sell designer clothing at discounted prices, they still have to take clothing security seriously. If a criminal will steal the stuff from their higher priced competitors, there is no reason they won’t come there too in order to get what they want. I asked her to give me some specifics on what items she was required to tag and here is what she told me:
1. Denim
Bottom line, denim is the most commonly stolen clothing item. People will come in wearing baggy sweat pants and then go in the fitting room, put on the jeans, and then put the baggy pants back on over top of them. If there is no fitting room attendant, they could do this over and over until they have a closet full. Jeans are actually pretty easy to protect though. They have seams and pockets where you can hide Checkpoint Tags instead of relying on adhering them to the price tag only. And the uncertainty of where to find the tag is a great theft deterrent.
2. Bathing Suits
Bikinis and other items are really easy to conceal so adding some clothing security tools to these is important. I would suggest using the hard Checkpoint Tags with pins on these. This will deter the thief from attempting to just rip out the tag. Without the right tool to properly remove the tag, they know they will hurt the garment. Whether they were stealing the bathing suit for their own personal use or even to resell it for the money, it could be rendered useless depending on the damage they inflicted.
3. Blouses
Unfortunately there are some women that have a hot date tonight or a job interview coming up and they just have nothing to wear. So they come to your store and they may even plan to pay for the item. Then they notice that your store does not put security tags on clothes and they decide the risk is worth the reward. As with the swimwear, using the right tag can make the biggest difference.
4. Socks and Underwear
Have you ever went to this section of a department store and not found an open package of socks or underwear. You may assume someone wanted to just “try on” a pair of the socks to make sure they fit, but how do you explain a six pack of underwear being opened? My friend says they get stolen a lot more often than you may think. You can’t just put security tags on clothes you assume people steal on a regular basis. Think outside the box.
5. Shoes
Have you ever opened a box and found an old pair of shoes inside instead? I have. One time I found a super icky pair of old sandals in what was supposed to be a box containing tennis shoes. Someone walked in with those nasty things on and walked out the store with a really nice pair of name brand kicks. If you are going to chance putting both shoes in the boxes on the sales floor, you really need to consider your options with Checkpoint Tags.
You and your staff can’t take clothing security lightly. There is a big profit margin in the soft lines and they have to be protected just like you would if you ran an electronics store.
Clothing security is important and we can help. Contact us or call. 1.770.426.0547
I have a friend that works at a discount clothing retailer and her daily job is to attach security tags on clothes. She opens the deliveries, organizes everything by size, and gets busy figuring out the best places for the tags. I think this particular retailer has figured out that just because they sell designer clothing at discounted prices, they still have to take clothing security seriously. If a criminal will steal the stuff from their higher priced competitors, there is no reason they won’t come there too in order to get what they want. I asked her to give me some specifics on what items she was required to tag and here is what she told me:
1. Denim
Bottom line, denim is the most commonly stolen clothing item. People will come in wearing baggy sweat pants and then go in the fitting room, put on the jeans, and then put the baggy pants back on over top of them. If there is no fitting room attendant, they could do this over and over until they have a closet full. Jeans are actually pretty easy to protect though. They have seams and pockets where you can hide Checkpoint Tags instead of relying on adhering them to the price tag only. And the uncertainty of where to find the tag is a great theft deterrent.
2. Bathing Suits
Bikinis and other items are really easy to conceal so adding some clothing security tools to these is important. I would suggest using the hard Checkpoint Tags with pins on these.This will deter the thief from attempting to just rip out the tag. Without the right tool to properly remove the tag, they know they will hurt the garment. Whether they were stealing the bathing suit for their own personal use or even to resell it for the money, it could be rendered useless depending on the damage they inflicted.
3. Blouses
Unfortunately there are some women that have a hot date tonight or a job interview coming up and they just have nothing to wear. So they come to your store and they may even plan to pay for the item. Then they notice that your store does not put security tags on clothes and they decide the risk is worth the reward. As with the swimwear, using the right tag can make the biggest difference.
4. Socks and Underwear
Have you ever went to this section of a department store and not found an open package of socks or underwear. You may assume someone wanted to just “try on” a pair of the socks to make sure they fit, but how do you explain a six pack of underwear being opened? My friend says they get stolen a lot more often than you may think. You can’t just put security tags on clothes you assume people steal on a regular basis. Think outside the box.
5. Shoes
Have you ever opened a box and found an old pair of shoes inside instead? I have. One time I found a super icky pair of old sandals in what was supposed to be a box containing tennis shoes. Someone walked in with those nasty things on and walked out the store with a really nice pair of name brand kicks. If you are going to chance putting both shoes in the boxes on the sales floor, you really need to consider your options with Checkpoint Tags.
You and your staff can’t take clothing security lightly. There is a big profit margin in the soft lines and they have to be protected just like you would if you ran an electronics store.
Clothing security is important and we can help. Contact us or call. 1.770.426.0547
ALPHA KEEPERS TO PROTECT BABY FORMULA
Every so often, I get my entire team together and we “blitz” a market. Essentially, the entire LP team for the area comes into one store for a weekend and tries to break the company record for highest single day shoplifting count. Of course, we stack the deck and pick a historically heavy weekend in the highest shrinking store in the area. This past month’s blitz proved to be quite an adventure, that all started with the discovery of Alpha Keepers in the most unusual location.
Not a lot slips by when there’s five agents and a manager in one store. We got to work around 9 and stayed throughout the night. We grabbed the first lifter at around 10am and it was one, right after the other all day long. We were also working with local law enforcement that set up a mobile command center of sorts where they would process the shoplifter. This was a targeted approach to identifying individuals that are involved in organized retail crimes. Part of the process is obtaining consent to search every vehicle.
It was our 5th or 6th booster of the day. The guy, walked out the store with 3 dozen pairs of headphones, valued at $50 each. He goes through the processing and officers gain consent to search his vehicle. Inside is a curious discovery; about 100 cans of infant formula thrown across the rear seat. I can tell immediately from the stickers that this is my product. We protect infant formula with Alpha Keepers, so how did he manage to get this many?
We pop the trunk and find even more. Under the trunk mat, we lift up the flooring and find probably 2 dozen or more Alpha Keepers, with my store’s stickers on the bottom. They’re not broken, nor are they damaged in any way. It seemed as if there was a breakdown in the process of how we protect infant formula, and this guy had figured it out and was exploiting us for thousands.
Of course, he wasn’t much of a talker once he was hit with a few felony charges, so it seemed as if it would remain a mystery on how he was able to remove the infant formula from the keepers. That mystery was short-lived as when our suspect got to the jail, deputies performed a more thorough pat down before he was booked. Inside of his underwear was an Alpha key. At some point in his travels, he was able to swipe one from a store that had lose physical security controls.
There was a good lesson to learn from this incident, and it’s one that I stress to managers very often. If we’re going to take the time, energy and money to protect infant formula, or any item for that matter, we have to ensure that all controls measures are in place to minimize the chance of someone breaking said controls. An important piece to that is securing the tools that remove the tools that stop shoplifters from stealing your goods!
Need information on Alpha Keepers? Give us a call at 1.770.426.0547 now.
Every so often, I get my entire team together and we “blitz” a market. Essentially, the entire LP team for the area comes into one store for a weekend and tries to break the company record for highest single day shoplifting count. Of course, we stack the deck and pick a historically heavy weekend in the highest shrinking store in the area. This past month’s blitz proved to be quite an adventure, that all started with the discovery of Alpha Keepers in the most unusual location.
Not a lot slips by when there’s five agents and a manager in one store. We got to work around 9 and stayed throughout the night. We grabbed the first lifter at around 10am and it was one, right after the other all day long. We were also working with local law enforcement that set up a mobile command center of sorts where they would process the shoplifter. This was a targeted approach to identifying individuals that are involved in organized retail crimes. Part of the process is obtaining consent to search every vehicle.
It was our 5th or 6th booster of the day. The guy, walked out the store with 3 dozen pairs of headphones, valued at $50 each. He goes through the processing and officers gain consent to search his vehicle. Inside is a curious discovery; about 100 cans of infant formula thrown across the rear seat. I can tell immediately from the stickers that this is my product. We protect infant formula with Alpha Keepers, so how did he manage to get this many?
We pop the trunk and find even more. Under the trunk mat, we lift up the flooring and find probably 2 dozen or more Alpha Keepers, with my store’s stickers on the bottom. They’re not broken, nor are they damaged in any way. It seemed as if there was a breakdown in the process of how we protect infant formula, and this guy had figured it out and was exploiting us for thousands.
Of course, he wasn’t much of a talker once he was hit with a few felony charges, so it seemed as if it would remain a mystery on how he was able to remove the infant formula from the keepers. That mystery was short-lived as when our suspect got to the jail, deputies performed a more thorough pat down before he was booked. Inside of his underwear was an Alpha key. At some point in his travels, he was able to swipe one from a store that had lose physical security controls.
There was a good lesson to learn from this incident, and it’s one that I stress to managers very often. If we’re going to take the time, energy and money to protect infant formula, or any item for that matter, we have to ensure that all controls measures are in place to minimize the chance of someone breaking said controls. An important piece to that is securing the tools that remove the tools that stop shoplifters from stealing your goods!
Need information on Alpha Keepers? Give us a call at 1.770.426.0547 now.
Stop Shoplifting-4 WC Blog 145
Retail Theft Prevention-3
Loss Prevention And Cameras: More Than Just Retail Theft Prevention
When people think about what Loss Prevention Officers and Managers do, obviously the first thing that comes to mind is that their job is to stop shoplifting. This is one of the primary roles they perform, but the job really encompasses so much more. It is protection of merchandise as well as company property, employees and customers. Today we frequently hear people voice concerns about privacy and all of the cameras that are in use all around us. Local police have cameras on light poles and stop lights. Government offices have them through their hallways, in elevators and even at entrances and exits. Private businesses place them throughout their stores and even in parking lots. As a retail theft prevention tool, cameras can be invaluable in deterring, and helping to catch shoplifters and employees who are stealing. While I do understand some of the privacy concerns I have heard in the media, I would like to share a couple of experiences from my lengthy time in Loss Prevention that may give a slightly different perspective on closed circuit television cameras. I would also like to shed a little more light on what Loss Prevention teams really do on a daily basis.
One day when I was working as a Loss Prevention Officer for a department store, I was in our security office monitoring cameras but it was a relatively slow day. My efforts to stop shoplifting were proving futile it just didn’t seem anything was happening in the store. I shifted my attention to the outside cameras. I panned the parking lot with the cameras and noticed that several guys in a car were taking out an infant car seat. In my experience, usually car seats are placed in a car not taken out of it. The subjects put the car seat on the ground and re-entered the car, making no effort to place the seat in the trunk or anywhere else in the vehicle. While it may not have been retail theft prevention it was theft prevention I was concerned with. I contacted our local police department and provided them with the vehicle description and license plate information. They confirmed the vehicle had been reported stolen from a nearby town about thirty minutes prior to my call. Since I was able to provide a description of the car and direction of travel, it didn’t take long for local police to find the car and arrest the suspects for grand theft auto.
In another instance, I was Loss Prevention Manager for a retail store and the area our store was located in was experiencing a spike in robberies and assaults. Several of the robberies had taken place on an access road behind our building and a neighboring store. While this was not a retail theft prevention problem it was a threat to our customers, many of whom walked from a housing complex near the store. We had a strong partnership with local police and in this case they sought our assistance to try to help identify the perpetrator(s). Cameras normally used to stop shoplifting were now focused on external crime prevention. We dedicated surveillance time to watching the tree line and access road for activity. When security was not in the building, we ensured exterior cameras were strategically positioned to get the optimum video shots and recorders were recording. It took about a week but our efforts paid off. A robbery took place behind the store and our cameras had recorded the event. We partnered with detectives and made copies of the videos. Within a few days police were able to make two arrests in the case and the robberies ceased.
Loss Prevention does work hard to stop shoplifting in stores, but that is not all they do. The next time you see those cameras outside of stores and in-store closed circuit television monitors know that it is likely someone is trying to keep you safe while you shop.
Get more information on Retail Theft Prevention, contact us or call 1.770.426.0547 today.
When people think about what Loss Prevention Officers and Managers do, obviously the first thing that comes to mind is that their job is to stop shoplifting. This is one of the primary roles they perform, but the job really encompasses so much more. It is protection of merchandise as well as company property, employees and customers. Today we frequently hear people voice concerns about privacy and all of the cameras that are in use all around us. Local police have cameras on light poles and stop lights. Government offices have them through their hallways, in elevators and even at entrances and exits. Private businesses place them throughout their stores and even in parking lots. As a retail theft prevention tool, cameras can be invaluable in deterring, and helping to catch shoplifters and employees who are stealing. While I do understand some of the privacy concerns I have heard in the media, I would like to share a couple of experiences from my lengthy time in Loss Prevention that may give a slightly different perspective on closed circuit television cameras. I would also like to shed a little more light on what Loss Prevention teams really do on a daily basis.
One day when I was working as a Loss Prevention Officer for a department store, I was in our security office monitoring cameras but it was a relatively slow day. My efforts to stop shoplifting were proving futile it just didn’t seem anything was happening in the store. I shifted my attention to the outside cameras. I panned the parking lot with the cameras and noticed that several guys in a car were taking out an infant car seat. In my experience, usually car seats are placed in a car not taken out of it. The subjects put the car seat on the ground and re-entered the car, making no effort to place the seat in the trunk or anywhere else in the vehicle. While it may not have been retail theft prevention it was theft prevention I was concerned with I contacted our local police department and provided them with the vehicle description and license plate information.They confirmed the vehicle had been reported stolen from a nearby town about thirty minutes prior to my call. Since I was able to provide a description of the car and direction of travel, it didn’t take long for local police to find the car and arrest the suspects for grand theft auto.
In another instance, I was Loss Prevention Manager for a retail store and the area our store was located in was experiencing a spike in robberies and assaults. Several of the robberies had taken place on an access road behind our building and a neighboring store. While this was not a retail theft prevention problem it was a threat to our customers, many of whom walked from a housing complex near the store. We had a strong partnership with local police and in this case they sought our assistance to try to help identify the perpetrator(s). Cameras normally used to stop shoplifting were now focused on external crime prevention. We dedicated surveillance time to watching the tree line and access road for activity. When security was not in the building, we ensured exterior cameras were strategically positioned to get the optimum video shots and recorders were recording. It took about a week but our efforts paid off. A robbery took place behind the store and our cameras had recorded the event. We partnered with detectives and made copies of the videos. Within a few days police were able to make two arrests in the case and the robberies ceased.
Loss Prevention does work hard to stop shoplifting in stores, but that is not all they do. The next time you see those cameras outside of stores and in-store closed circuit television monitors know that it is likely someone is trying to keep you safe while you shop.
Get more information on Retail Theft Prevention, contact us or call 1.770.426.0547 today.
