Stores Roll Out Facial Recognition to Fight Theft Wave
Retailers Quietly Deploying Controversial Technology To Combat Crime Spree
Macy's, Bloomingdale's and a dozen other large retailers are quietly using controversial facial-recognition technology to fight a rise in smash-and-grab robberies and other coordinated attacks.

It's part of a larger push to turn retailers' existing security cameras - those ubiquitous black gadgets that produce thousands of hours of mostly useless footage - into a more sophisticated artificial-intelligence surveillance system, capable of automatically identifying people, license plates and other information that can be used to alert store employees of unfolding threats and ultimately prosecute offenders.

"There's a big play to use AI right now," said Read Hayes, director of the Loss Prevention Research Council. "Retailers have got cameras all over the place anyways."

The technology has new appeal at a time when theft and violence is on the rise, particularly from organized crime groups that steal millions of dollars in merchandise and then sell the products online. Organized retail crime has risen by 60% since 2015, according to the National Retail Federation, with nearly 70% of retailers reporting an increase in 2021. As much as $69 billion worth of products are stolen from the nation's retailers each year, or 1.5% of sales, according to estimates from the Retail Industry Leaders Association and the Buy Safe America Coalition. A record 523 people were killed during robberies and other violent retail incidents in the U.S. in 2020, including 256 customers and 139 employees.

"What retailers are really trying to do is give police more evidence of who is doing this," said Adrian Beck, a professor at the University of Leicester whose research focuses on ways to combat retail loss.

Facial-recognition technology is controversial because research has shown it's often inaccurate when identifying people of color and women. The worst technology has an error rate of up to 35% when scanning darker-skinned women, but less than 1% with lighter-skinned men, according to one research report. The reason? Early versions of the algorithms were trained using images of celebrities that skewed white and male.

Companies have been working to address the racial bias, and between 2014 and 2018, facial-recognition software got 20 times better at searching a database to find a matching photograph, according to the National Institute of Standards and Technology. However, as of 2019, the government found that some software still misidentified African-American and Asian people 10 to 100 times more often than white men.

There's been a push to curb the use of facial recognition by law enforcement, with cities like San Francisco, Minneapolis and Boston barring police officers from using it. Companies like Amazon and Microsoft have stopped selling the tech to police. forbes.com

Theft Boom Stands in the Way of NYC's Retail Comeback
Op-Ed: Shoplifting kills a Rite Aid - and maybe Manhattan's comeback chances
The pharmacy, on 8th Avenue and 50th Street, will close Feb. 8. Last week, it was effectively already shuttered, with most of the store cordoned off with gates. The reason the Rite Aid is closing is mass-scale shoplifting. As The Post reported last week, the shop lost $200,000 in goods in two months.

This store's workers have had a rough two years. In June 2020 - the summer of "peaceful protests" - the shop suffered looting. Since then, the store's workers - mostly people of color - have suffered the strain of constant disorder.

Shoplifting is traumatizing to employees not just because they must contend with the implied threat of violence that goes along with brazen all-day theft. Shoplifting without consequences also attracts people you don't want to spend time around.

Now the Midtown Rite Aid's chronic shoplifters have claimed collateral damage in people's livelihoods. Yes, Rite Aid says that employees at this store can work at another one. But as the company isn't opening any new store to replace this one, Manhattan is losing employment for people who don't have a job yet but might like one.

No, the culprit isn't online shopping. Until two years ago, this store was packed, and it retained its local customers during the pandemic. The store has lost tourist and office-worker customers, sure. But the city has made this surmountable challenge worse.

We all know by now that Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg will treat violent robberies as mere shoplifting - which means that shoplifting won't be prosecuted at all.

The Rite Aid's disappearance is a result of our urban failures, but it will also contribute to them. Now, potential tenants will see an empty hulk - one that will almost certainly be boarded up after vagrants smash the windows. nypost.com

'Everyone Stole Everything'
Op-Ed: Manhattan Retail Is Getting Destroyed by Shoplifting
I didn't realize yesterday, when I wrote about how a Rite Aid closed in the greater Times Square area, that (liberal) actor Michael Rapaport had gone viral with a pair of videos about how his neighborhood Rite Aid closed after "everyone stole everything." This is on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, one of the wealthiest corners of the city.

"I can't believe I'm seeing this s**," Rapaport said. "This f***ing guy just filled his two bags up with everything in Rite Aid, right here on 80th and First Avenue is walking down the street like s**t is Gucci. I was watching him the whole time. . . . My man just went Christmas shopping in January," he added, noting that the thief walked right by a security guard. Rite Aid employees including security guards told the New York Post that they're under orders not to accost or try to stop shoplifters

In a followup video, Rapaport said, "Back in my Rite Aid and there's nothing to steal because this Rite Aid, like so many other Rite Aids, is closing down because everyone stole everything,"

Just an idea, but . . . maybe the liberals who created this situation through the ballot box should rethink how they vote? Leftist Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg, who has vowed to treat armed robbery like shoplifting unless a gun is involved, is rarely or never prosecuting nonviolent shoplifters. Reports of petit larceny are up 26 percent over the comparable period last year, but one has to suppose that many incidents of theft are simply not being reported. Why bother? Bragg has convened a special "task force" to consider the problem, with a report due in May. What is there to consider? Either shoplifting is treated as a crime, or it isn't. nationalreview.com

Another State, Another ORC Bill
Proposed bill would increase punishment for repeat shoplifters
Shoplifting is not new in Albuquerque many times Walgreens stores are targeted but they are not the only ones. One woman who's often a witness to these crimes says something needs to change.

This is something that State Rep. Bill Rehm (R) is focusing on this legislative session. In a statement, Rehm said that HB29, "Retail theft affects all New Mexicans and especially our small local businesses. The cost of retail crime is directly passed to each of us and will cause some businesses to fail, which is bad for our economy."

One Nob Hill business owner that did not want to be on camera says she's also experienced shoplifters. Smith said she would like to see harsher punishments for shoplifters. "I believe our laws need to change, I see that happen all the time and I know that these people are just let go the next day," Smith said.

House Bill 29 proposes that if there is a coordinated plan to steal from retailers more than two times can be charged anywhere from a petty misdemeanor to a second-degree felony if it's more than $20,000.

Rehm said he's been working with other Republican leaders to control organized retail crime since 2007. The organized crime retail bill is expected to be discussed during Tuesday's House Rules and Business Committee meeting. koat.com

White House Calls for 'Significant Increase' in Police Funding as Crime Surges
Biden press secretary pushes back on 'soft on crime' criticism from Fox News

Press secretary fires back at characterization of Biden as 'soft on crime'

The White House pushed back on right-leaning media organizations, including Fox News, over criticism of the president as "soft on crime".

Ms Psaki responded by noting that the mocking tone she took during the interview was in response to Fox News' coverage of the issue and "baseless" characterization of President Joe Biden as "soft on crime", and not general concerns about crime, which she called a "serious issue".

She went on to mention the president's support for community policing programs and budgetary efforts to increase federal funding for local law enforcement agencies, as well as the unified GOP opposition to the American Rescue Plan which included provisions for local law enforcement agencies to buy new equipment and hire more personnel.

"President Biden has proposed a significant increase for local cops' funding in his budget," she said, adding of the GOP opposition to a bill that provided funding to local law enforcement groups: "I know Republicans don't like it when we call that out. I'm going to keep calling that out."

"I think we all agree or should agree that violent crime is a serious problem. We actually saw a record jump in murders in 2020, under the former president," she said. "Our view is rather than turn this into a political football...we need to be focused on keeping our communities safe." independent.co.uk

Largest U.S. Police Advocacy Org Accuses Psaki of 'Laughing Off' Crime Concerns

Store Openings Up 3% - Closures Down 65%
As 2022 kicks off, store closures are down 65%: Coresight
By the fourth week of January, announced store closures across the retail industry - at 742 total - were down 65% compared to the same time last year, according to the latest counts by Coresight Research. CVS accounts for 300 of those closures.

Store openings, meanwhile, stood at 1,910, a 3% increase from last year. Coresight's tallies for the full year 2021 showed that openings (5,048) outpaced closures (4,975) in a year marked by strong consumer demand and few retail bankruptcies.

So far this year, Dollar General has more planned store openings (1,102) than every other retailer combined, according to Coresight data.

Bankruptcies in the industry slowed dramatically last year, thanks to strong consumer spending and government support of the financial industry, which helped funnel capital and boost liquidity for players that needed some.

But a tapering in closures is only half the story. The thousands of openings last year and on deck for this year show the resilience of brick-and-mortar retail, especially in discount sectors, which have accounted for an outsized share of openings in recent years.

Among others with the largest opening plans this year are, according to Coresight, Burlington Stores, Signet Jewelers, Windsor Fashions, Aerie, Big Lots and Citi Trends. retaildive.com

Retail Among Industries with Highest Quit Rate
'The Great Resignation': A record number of Americans quit their jobs in 2021
Some 4.3 million people quit or changed jobs in December - down from last month's all-time high but still near record levels, as the labor market remained unsettled and the omicron variant swept through the United States.

Employers reported some 10.9 million job openings in the survey, well above pre-pandemic averages. December proved to be an incredibly disruptive month for the U.S. labor market. Employees grappled with sudden outbreaks at work, with little of the social safety net protections or pandemic-controlling measures that helped cushion the blow from earlier waves. And a vaccine-evading variant shook the nation's confidence that a future without the virus was on the near horizon.

The elevated quitting data, which represented nearly three percent of the country's employed population, is another window into how the labor market's patterns have been upended by the pandemic.

While the crisis was originally marked by mass joblessness - more than 20 million people lost their jobs in the earliest days of the pandemic, many temporarily - 2021 was defined by a strong labor market recovery as well as complaints by employers about difficulty finding available workers.

That shortage has meant that many companies have been racing to compete with each other for workers, raising wages, adding cash bonuses and sweetening the pot in other ways to try to attract applicants. And that in turn has created a climate for workers to have more leverage and options than perhaps any other time in recent history.

Industries with the highest levels of workers quitting or leaving for other jobs were accommodation and food services, with 6.1 percent of workers quitting, retail, with 4.9 percent of workers quitting, trade, transportation and utilities, with 3.8 percent of workers quitting, and professional and business services, with 3.7 percent of workers quitting. washingtonpost.com

Union Push at 54 Starbucks Locations in 19 States
More than 50 Starbucks stores petition to unionize
Employees at more than 50 Starbucks locations have petitioned to unionize shortly after workers at a Buffalo, New York, store first voted to do so last month.

Workers United, an affiliate of the Service Employees International Union that is organizing the Starbucks push, said Monday that an additional 15 locations filed for union elections with the National Labor Relations Board.

With the most recent announcement, 54 Starbucks locations in 19 states have petitioned to unionize, indicating that the organizing effort is spreading rapidly.

Starbucks has urged its employees to push back on the unionization effort. The coffee chain said last month that it did not want unions to come between the company and its workers, but pledged to "respect the legal process" and "bargain in good faith" with the Buffalo store that voted 19-8 to unionize.

Earlier this month, a separate Buffalo location became the second Starbucks store to unionize following a 15-9 vote. Another store is awaiting vote results and a fourth store in Arizona will count votes on Feb. 16, according to Workers United. wjbf.com

100,000 New Hires at Home Depot
Home Depot is seeking to beat the tight labor market and hire a record-breaking 100,000 for its busy spring season

Executive Eric Schelling said that the hiring push is meant to meet a "spike" in consumer demand.

Home Depot is aiming to hire 100,000 new employees for its springtime rush.

For the past two years, Home Depot has met its hiring goal of 80,000 in the run-up to its busy spring season, when warmer weather and an urge to tackle springtime projects tend to boost home improvement sales. This year, despite the tight labor market, the big box chain is increasing its latest hiring goal to a new high.

The new hires will fill a mix of permanent full-time and part-time roles. Home Depot did not provide Insider with specific details on its average wages, but Schelling said that new hires will receive a "competitive" offering that is dependent on factors like location and employee experience. He said that the home improvement retailer is hoping to attract talent by touting efficient "same-day" hiring, thus reducing wait time for job candidates. businessinsider.com

Transforming Brick & Mortar
Retailers Use Digital Blueprints to Reinvent the Physical Store Experience
Not long ago - call it two years - eCommerce and digital were being used primarily to inform consumers' in-store journeys, but that has flipped. Now, digital is in the driver's seat, leaving brick-and-mortar operators to learn how to complement shopping excursions that begin online.

At the core, it's a design challenge for physical retailers that have been jumping from one foot to the other throughout the pandemic, coping with the latest variant while piloting new tech.

With the great digital shift commanding most of the headlines these past 21 months or so, the great physical transformation will steal some of that thunder with new ideas for 2022.

Formats are getting an overhaul, for example. "Another thing that we're seeing is retailers have more smaller-footprint stores, and that's because you can't compete with the availability of product online. It's smaller-footprint stores that are more experiential based," Murphy said.

With connected platforms and ecosystems bridging eCommerce and brick-and-mortar, companies have to be smart - and have smart partners - to make the most of both. pymnts.com

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