I guess that I wasn't clear for you since you totally missed the point. Not "if anyone questions you", but if you are wrong - two entirely different things (for those who can add 2+2 and consistently come up with 4. Perhaps someday you can join that group).
Sam (except for his final couple of years) had leadership coming out of his pores. We paid Department Managers a living wage - many the equivalent of $20/hr. when I left in 1992. The stock purchase plan was outstanding (I left with over $250,000 in stock in today's dollars). The bean counters who followed him (David Glass, et al) created the Associate/employee shit show, but you don't know that because I'd bet that you weren't there and NEVER had multiple small group conversations with him. But you sure do have an ignorant opinion.
One of my best friends works in retail as a store manager. Her job is hell due to an asshole boss and takes up way too much of her time. They expect her to be able to come in any old time the slightly higher up demands it. She can't get a second job due to irregular hours based on the whims of corporate folks. She barely can cover her expenses ... has used up her retirement savings now. This fucking job is better pay though than when she worked based on commission for a furniture store.
"figure a pretty big portion of this shoplifting is done not for a thrill but out of necessity." - thank you! this exactly this! they're not stealing for the lols (though there are some that do, I understand that) but a woman stealing tampons or a man stealing food is doing so because they can't find another way
The only people I work with who are demoralised by not being allowed to tackle shoplifters are
1) People furious at the idea of anyone getting anything for free.
2) Youngsters who have watched too many action flicks and are dismayed they cannot unleash their
inner John Wick on someone they think is a shoplifter.
3) Someone who has dreamed of being a "hero" their entire life and cannot believe they will be denied
their chance to save a bottle of allergy meds.
4) Newbies who do not yet understand that shoplifting has nothing to do with the amount of their raise.
Everyone else is demoralised by low pay, understaffing, untrained managers, and an unending corporate campaign that everything is great!!! No really it is!!!!
Put in a few more self check outs, that’s what we need. 🙄 That’ll increase morale among both customers and staff!
I swear, stores really want to move to a world with zero employees, just robots. They can’t seem to realize if nobody works nobody can afford to shop at the stores.
The retailers tell the few employees they have that for safety reasons they should absolutely not stop a shoplifter - various incidents have gotten employees stabbed or shot for confronting a shoplifter. As far as I can tell the retailers are just happy with the tax write off (did it improve recently)
My store you will be fired if you directly confront or follow a shoplifter out of the store unless you are LP or the duty manager (in charge of the store). Customer Service them to death, find excuses to work in the same aisle they are in, tag team helping them, but no direct confrontation. Its not worth the potential lawsuits to stop the possible theft.
"Workers in the US have an estimated $50bn-plus stolen from them every year, according to the Economic Policy Institute, surpassing all robberies, burglaries and motor vehicle thefts combined. The majority of these stolen wages are never recovered by workers. The Guardian, June 15, 2023.
The REAL problem is wage theft (boy that makes my blood boil), not retail stores who refuse to hire enough workers and pay them adequately.
Reading some of the comments, I'm reminded of the time my ex went to the drug store and whispered his request to the man in charge, who turned to his wife and yelled "HEY HELEN, CAN YOU GET THIS GUY SOME TROJANS?"
Working in my store's pharmacy area I had a woman come up and start muttering at me as quietly as she could. I couldn't hear her so asked her if she could repeat. She did, but not any louder. After a few rounds of this, plus my co worker coming to help out, she finally yelled at the top of her freaking lungs "I want a sex toy!!!!!!!" Oh. No problem, they are over here......
Yes. Very much yes. There's a metric shit ton that gets tossed weekly at my store of perfectly useable items but for "reasons" cannot be sold or donated; however they can be written off as a tax credit. Empty, most likely stolen, packages also get written off for tax breaks.
One of the first things the new owners of Sears did was slash the number of employees on the floor. You may have noticed that Sears is no more.
I’m old enough to remember when you could go to a department store and see two or three employees for each check out stand. Now you go into most stores and you’re lucky to see one employee for every three check out stands. Do younger people wonder why these stores have so many check out stands that never get used?
It’s funny. Stores aren’t paying for as many employees as they did thirty years ago but everything still costs more.
So how much does Sam's Clubs lose to theft? I personally don't like having to show every item and my receipt when I leave there, but I bet it helps lessen shrinkage.
Utter bunk. The rise in retail theft is almost exclusively linked to the rise in self-check out options. No amount of locking up stops one bit of not scanning the item once it has been unlocked. I have literally seen the same woman in two different grocery stores near my home walk out without paying for entire bags of groceries that she went through the motions of scanning. The retailers all know this is the real problem, but the last thing they want to acknowledge is that hiring staff is better than relying on computers and good will.
I was thrilled to hear a customer once at Walmart tell the worker who was pointing out that there were no lines at self checkout "I'm pro union and do not steal others' jobs".
Self checkouts require that untrained, inexperienced randoms work for free and don't fuck it up, even though they have a strong financial motive to fuck it up. OF COURSE people steal shit. What did they expect???
Yep. And if there even happens to be such a random standing at the exit to the self-check out corral they are typically doing their best not to pay attention at all.
I was reading about the response by big business to the inflation report. Almost all of them, including the ones making record profits and/or experiencing falling prices on parts/components, basically said they’re gonna keep prices high on consumer goods because… they can. Weirdly enough, only McDonalds was willing to consider lowering prices.
Hi! Loved this article! I just wrote an essay on the morality of petty theft! Would love your thoughts, I’m just starting out!
https://open.substack.com/pub/lalarem/p/shoplifting?r=6v3cm6&utm_medium=ios
I guess that I wasn't clear for you since you totally missed the point. Not "if anyone questions you", but if you are wrong - two entirely different things (for those who can add 2+2 and consistently come up with 4. Perhaps someday you can join that group).
Sam (except for his final couple of years) had leadership coming out of his pores. We paid Department Managers a living wage - many the equivalent of $20/hr. when I left in 1992. The stock purchase plan was outstanding (I left with over $250,000 in stock in today's dollars). The bean counters who followed him (David Glass, et al) created the Associate/employee shit show, but you don't know that because I'd bet that you weren't there and NEVER had multiple small group conversations with him. But you sure do have an ignorant opinion.
One of my best friends works in retail as a store manager. Her job is hell due to an asshole boss and takes up way too much of her time. They expect her to be able to come in any old time the slightly higher up demands it. She can't get a second job due to irregular hours based on the whims of corporate folks. She barely can cover her expenses ... has used up her retirement savings now. This fucking job is better pay though than when she worked based on commission for a furniture store.
"figure a pretty big portion of this shoplifting is done not for a thrill but out of necessity." - thank you! this exactly this! they're not stealing for the lols (though there are some that do, I understand that) but a woman stealing tampons or a man stealing food is doing so because they can't find another way
The only people I work with who are demoralised by not being allowed to tackle shoplifters are
1) People furious at the idea of anyone getting anything for free.
2) Youngsters who have watched too many action flicks and are dismayed they cannot unleash their
inner John Wick on someone they think is a shoplifter.
3) Someone who has dreamed of being a "hero" their entire life and cannot believe they will be denied
their chance to save a bottle of allergy meds.
4) Newbies who do not yet understand that shoplifting has nothing to do with the amount of their raise.
Everyone else is demoralised by low pay, understaffing, untrained managers, and an unending corporate campaign that everything is great!!! No really it is!!!!
Put in a few more self check outs, that’s what we need. 🙄 That’ll increase morale among both customers and staff!
I swear, stores really want to move to a world with zero employees, just robots. They can’t seem to realize if nobody works nobody can afford to shop at the stores.
The retailers tell the few employees they have that for safety reasons they should absolutely not stop a shoplifter - various incidents have gotten employees stabbed or shot for confronting a shoplifter. As far as I can tell the retailers are just happy with the tax write off (did it improve recently)
My store you will be fired if you directly confront or follow a shoplifter out of the store unless you are LP or the duty manager (in charge of the store). Customer Service them to death, find excuses to work in the same aisle they are in, tag team helping them, but no direct confrontation. Its not worth the potential lawsuits to stop the possible theft.
"Workers in the US have an estimated $50bn-plus stolen from them every year, according to the Economic Policy Institute, surpassing all robberies, burglaries and motor vehicle thefts combined. The majority of these stolen wages are never recovered by workers. The Guardian, June 15, 2023.
The REAL problem is wage theft (boy that makes my blood boil), not retail stores who refuse to hire enough workers and pay them adequately.
Reading some of the comments, I'm reminded of the time my ex went to the drug store and whispered his request to the man in charge, who turned to his wife and yelled "HEY HELEN, CAN YOU GET THIS GUY SOME TROJANS?"
makes me laugh every time.
Working in my store's pharmacy area I had a woman come up and start muttering at me as quietly as she could. I couldn't hear her so asked her if she could repeat. She did, but not any louder. After a few rounds of this, plus my co worker coming to help out, she finally yelled at the top of her freaking lungs "I want a sex toy!!!!!!!" Oh. No problem, they are over here......
I'm not a tax attorney; tax laws make my head hurt. I presume businesses can write off their losses on their tax returns?
Yes. Very much yes. There's a metric shit ton that gets tossed weekly at my store of perfectly useable items but for "reasons" cannot be sold or donated; however they can be written off as a tax credit. Empty, most likely stolen, packages also get written off for tax breaks.
One of the first things the new owners of Sears did was slash the number of employees on the floor. You may have noticed that Sears is no more.
I’m old enough to remember when you could go to a department store and see two or three employees for each check out stand. Now you go into most stores and you’re lucky to see one employee for every three check out stands. Do younger people wonder why these stores have so many check out stands that never get used?
It’s funny. Stores aren’t paying for as many employees as they did thirty years ago but everything still costs more.
Fucking rice is over $2.50/lb in California. Where we do rice.
https://www.in2013dollars.com/Rice/price-inflation
Why are so many people baffled by the fact that no one wants to work a job if they can’t live on what it pays?
So how much does Sam's Clubs lose to theft? I personally don't like having to show every item and my receipt when I leave there, but I bet it helps lessen shrinkage.
Utter bunk. The rise in retail theft is almost exclusively linked to the rise in self-check out options. No amount of locking up stops one bit of not scanning the item once it has been unlocked. I have literally seen the same woman in two different grocery stores near my home walk out without paying for entire bags of groceries that she went through the motions of scanning. The retailers all know this is the real problem, but the last thing they want to acknowledge is that hiring staff is better than relying on computers and good will.
I loathe self checkout.
I was thrilled to hear a customer once at Walmart tell the worker who was pointing out that there were no lines at self checkout "I'm pro union and do not steal others' jobs".
On the rare occasion that I'm asked if I'd like to use the self-checkout register, I ask them, "Do I get an employee discount if I do?"
Self checkouts require that untrained, inexperienced randoms work for free and don't fuck it up, even though they have a strong financial motive to fuck it up. OF COURSE people steal shit. What did they expect???
Yep. And if there even happens to be such a random standing at the exit to the self-check out corral they are typically doing their best not to pay attention at all.
That’s a big factor, but simply the lack of bodies to watch the floor is a huge issue.
Both times I saw the woman steal there was no employee at all in the self-checkout area.
the most efficient shoplifting is done by the employees …
The most efficient stealing is done by the management. Especially stealing employees wages.
Truth. Wage theft is bigger, in terms of dollars, than most other forms of theft put together.
Yet another superlative post, Robyn! You are the greatest among a number of greats! (And the most prettiest.)
I was reading about the response by big business to the inflation report. Almost all of them, including the ones making record profits and/or experiencing falling prices on parts/components, basically said they’re gonna keep prices high on consumer goods because… they can. Weirdly enough, only McDonalds was willing to consider lowering prices.
As long as none of them lower prices, none of them will have to.
Isn’t capitalism fun?