Bloomingdales creates a new Loss Prevention Group Manager level. Chad McIntosh, the VP of LP for Bloomingdales has just about completed building and staffing their new Loss Prevention organization and created a new level between the Regional Director level and the single unit Loss Prevention manager's position, the Group Loss Prevention Manager. Just last week naming their new Director of Loss Prevention, Fred Becker, Chad has spent the last year staffing a number of key positions and redesigning the structure to increase the deliverables and to offer more career advancement opportunities for his team members.

A pair of pharmacy robberies 30 miles apart on Long Island that resulted in six deaths has Long Island pharmacists twitchy about just going to work. Pharmacies throughout the country have been shaken by a rash of bold robberies by gun-wielding criminals hunting for narcotic painkillers, anti-anxiety drugs and other controlled medications, either to quench their own addictions or to sell. The Long Island killings have sharply elevated tensions — some pharmacies now display signs making it clear that they do not carry oxycodone — and set off a scramble for better security, since in the past, injuries of any sort had been rare with these types of crimes. "I didn’t know when I got my pharmacist’s license I’d put my life on the line like a cop or a soldier," said Howard Jacobson, who owns two Long Island pharmacies. A number of Long Island pharmacies have recently stopped stocking drugs like OxyContin, a principal target of thieves. (Source nytimes.com)

IT Security is one of the only industry's that had virtually no unemployment in 2011. The number of information security analysts employed rose by more than one-third to 51,000 in the fourth quarter of 2011, up from 37,000 in the first quarter according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Until last year, the government did not have an information security analysts occupation category. BLS broadly defines the information security analysts' occupation classification to include individuals who plan, implement, upgrade or monitor security measures for the protection of computer networks and information. The job classification also includes individuals who ensure appropriate security controls are in place that will safeguard digital files and vital electronic infrastructure as well as those who respond to computer security breaches and viruses. (Source govinfosecurity.com)

Counterfeit seizures increase 24% in 2011 and hit 24,792 seizures by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) (Source opsecsecurity.com)

The mere counterfeit business in collegiate apparel alone has reached $4.3 billion annually. Vendors selling counterfeit goods mixed right in with legitimate vendors at the SEC Championship game in December in Atlanta. They did it at the Rose Bowl, too. And they’ll do it again Monday night at the 2012 Allstate BCS National Championship Game. Last year, more than 60,000 pieces of counterfeit merchandise valued at more than $1 million overall were seized by Collegiate Licensing Company. (Source espn.go.com)

62 websites shut down selling counterfeit golf clubs. The U.S. Golf Manufacturers Anti-Counterfeiting Working Group today announced that twelve individuals are believed to have been involved with the operator of the 62 sites. The counterfeit products sold from these URLs include clubs, balls, head covers and bags. In addition to shutting down the websites, the restraining order also froze all PayPal accounts associated with them and transferred existing funds to a holding account until the legal process is complete. In 2011 alone, this Anti-Counterfeiting group seized more than 80,000 counterfeit golf products. (Source yahoo.com)

18.3% of all traffic to online retail sites came from a mobile device on Christmas Day, and accounted for 14.4% of all sales that day. (Source internetretailer.com)

Arizona lawmaker plans on introducing "Flash Robs" bill to make it a felony to use electronic communication to plan or organize crimes. (Source arizonalaws.net)

More than 20 people caused a fight Saturday night inside Macy's store in Eastfield Mall in Springfield, Mass. Saturday night 20 people just started fighting and caused about $300 damage. By the time police arrived the crowd was nowhere to be found. With the Mall of America incident over the holidays and the numerous flash robs and flash mob incidents are we going to see more? (Source wwlp.com)

ATM Skimmer arrested after stealing over 970 ATM/debit card numbers with skimming device and covert cameras. A San Diego man will face 20 years in prison for debit card skimming after placing skimming devices and covert cameras a bank in San Diego. A Chase Investigator determined someone had been placing the debit card skimming device on the security door accessing the lobby of the Black Mountain bank and ATM machines. The bank investigator reviewed surveillance videos from the branch and determined the same suspect had installed the skimmer and cameras on five previous weekends. (Source 10news.com)

The British Retail Consortium is warning their government that Chapter 11's will increase in 2012. With over an 11% increase in 2011 and a 25% increase in the Q4 and with the current economic difficulties in Europe and Britain they expect the number to rise this year. (Source theretailbulletin.com)

From spunky sidekick to full-fledged superhero internet shopping morphed in 2011. Though traditional physical stores continued to grab most consumer dollars, online sales showed explosive growth, surpassing the expectations of even the most ardent optimist. Online holiday sales totaled $35.3 billion, a 15 percent gain from 2010, according to ComScore. This is going to change the very essence of retailing and offer new shrink challenges for everyone. (Source startribune.com)

Drive-thru bandits target Tim Hortons debit machines in the Toronto, Canada area (known as the GTA) Two suspects were arrested after placing an order at 5 Tim Hortons drive-thru's and cutting the debit terminal cords and driving away. Personal data can’t be obtained from the debit machine itself, but they are often doctored to be adapted for use as skimming device, said Toronto police Det. Ian Nichol. The perpetrators will steal a point-of-sale terminal, open it up and alter the mechanism inside to store the data found in the magnetic strips of debit and credit cards, he said. Then they find retail locations with similar machines and swap out legitimate machines for the altered ones. According to Interac Canada, debit card fraud represents less than one per cent of all transactions, but in 2010, that amounted to $119 million, down from $142.3 million in 2009, said Interac spokeswoman Caroline Hubberstey. She said last year, 205,000 cardholders were reimbursed for fraud-related costs, both purchases and stolen cash. A skimming plan may have been stopped here! (Source thestar.com)

Taxi Driver follows Apple smash and grab robbers and helps police recover $75,000 in merchandise. At 2 am Jan 2 a taxi driver witnessed and followed three robbers hitting an Apple store in Scottsdale, AZ, and during the chase was shot at by the robbers, straight out of Grand Theft Auto. Police apprehended the three this past weekend. (Source razorianfly.com)

The National Association of Convenience Stores teams with LexisNexis to offer member companies an affordable, user friendly employment screening solution. "Screening for and hiring quality job applicants is critical to our industry, from delivering exceptional customer service to reducing shrink and waste," said NACS Director of Products and Services Doug Spencer. "Convenience and fuels retailers are focused on serving their customers and driving sales, not administrative details like background checks. That's why we're here — to lend expertise around employee-related risk and screening strategies," said Joe Metro, director of retail screening for LexisNexis. (Source csnews.com)

The 2011 Thought Challenge was a great success, with 20 entries, all of which were absolutely well written and thought-provoking. Being the first year for this column, we were thrilled that the executives took the time out of their busy schedules to write their articles and submit them to be published in the Daily. Certainly the time investment is one thing, but to have the courage to step up and have their thoughts and opinions published for the entire industry to see is another. That, in and of itself, shows a leadership quality and a willingness to take a risk and be heard. It is those types of executives that make a difference to the industry.

We'd like to thank each individual that participated in the 2011 Thought Challenge. We would also like to express our sincere appreciation to Art Silva, VP of Operations, North America, who helped us every step of the way and offered his advice and direction on this new column and industry program. Additionally we'd like to thank the Awards committee, who took their personal time during the busy holiday season to review each Thought Challenge and determine which three they felt were the most challenging. Because each one was very well written, it was a very difficult process for the Awards committee to make a decision. The voting reflected a wide range of opinions and, once again, Art Silva jumped in to help and evaluated the voting and determined the Top three.

 2011 First Place Winner - Pedro Ramos, Vice President Sales, Agilence, Inc.

Second place winner announced tomorrow!