'Traumatic' Theft Wave Crushing Small Retailers
Protect Small Businesses from the Scourge of Stolen & Counterfeit Goods
Whether it comes in the form of widescale package theft by criminal enterprises or organized smash-and-grab robberies at brick and mortar stores, theft has become a big problem for small businesses. A new survey finds that nearly all small business owners experienced an increase in theft in 2021.

This isn't the shoplifting of your parent's generation. Elaborate criminal networks steal and resell goods at below-market rates on internet marketplaces such as Amazon, Facebook, eBay, and Alibaba. The cost of lost inventory and ensuing cut-rate online competition puts tremendous pressure on small business margins that are already strained by the highest inflation in 40 years and severe supply chain disruptions.

Bipartisan legislation known as the INFORM Act, currently before the House and Senate, can protect small businesses from this criminal competition by requiring online marketplaces to verify seller information. A historically divided Congress can come together to stand up for small businesses, which transcend partisan politics, by passing this legislation.

According to a report by Buy Safe America, organized retail crime costs businesses $69.9 billion annually. The costs associated with this spike in retail crime has led to several high-profile store closures in recent years. For instance, Walgreens recently closed five stores in San Francisco due to increased shoplifting that's partly a result of a state law that doesn't treat theft under $950 in value as a felony. Some stores are also closing earlier.

If big nationwide chains are having this much trouble contending with theft, consider the consequences to far less profitable small businesses. When these small enterprises close due to the costs of theft, they don't make the news, but they leave a lasting hole in the economy.

Theft is also traumatic for small business employees whom aggressive shoplifters routinely threaten. A recent study by the Retail Industry Leaders Association and the Buy Safe America Coalition finds that 86 percent of retailers said their employees have been threatened, and 76 percent say their employees have been assaulted.

The INFORM Act simply expands the basic consumer protections at retail stores to the 21st-century online economy. It would weed out criminals by requiring online marketplace sellers to be registered and verified, making it far more difficult for them to offload their illicit wares. Armed with this information, law enforcement can more easily track down these criminals. The legislation would bring the same trust and transparency at in-person businesses to online marketplaces plagued by screen names and fake accounts. realclearpolicy.com

GA's Anti-Gang Unit to Target Retail Theft Rings
Georgia AG Leads Efforts to Fight Organized Retail Crime in GA

Attorney General Chris Carr is working with public and private partners to combat the surge in organized retail crime targeting retailers and online marketplaces in Georgia.

Attorney General Chris Carr is working with public and private partners on the local, state and federal levels to combat the surge in organized retail crime targeting retailers and online marketplaces in Georgia and across the country. These ongoing efforts are enhanced by Governor Brian Kemp’s budget and legislative proposals to create a new Gang Prosecution Unit in the Office of the Attorney General.

Organized retail crime exposes Georgia retail workers to potentially dangerous encounters, puts consumers at risk of unknowingly purchasing expired and defective goods from online marketplaces, and threatens the health and growth of local businesses. This unlawful activity can also be linked to other criminal operations, including human trafficking, drug trafficking, corruption, bribery and money laundering.

Through the Attorney General’s Georgia Anti-Gang Network, statewide law enforcement are already stepping up to curb the rise in organized retail crime by putting bad actors behind bars. Governor Kemp recently attended the Network’s 7th meeting to share his 2022 public safety agenda, including his budget proposal to create a new Gang Prosecution Unit in the Attorney General’s Office. This Unit is complimented by the introduction of HB 1134, which would provide the Attorney General’s Office with concurrent jurisdiction to prosecute criminal gang activity statewide, including organized retail crime.

In addition, Carr recently convened the first meeting of the Organized Retail Crime Working Group, a bipartisan effort to address the increase in smash-and-grabs and other thefts targeting the retail industry at large. Carr serves as co-chair of the Working Group alongside Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul. Created by the Attorney General Alliance, the Organized Retail Crime Working Group brings together public and private partners to share information regarding organized retail crime, including best practices, law enforcement strategy, legislative initiatives, current trends and statistical data. These discussions are intended to foster and strengthen cooperation among state attorneys general, their staff and private businesses. valdostatoday.com

Seattle's Plan to Fight Retail Crime
Violence & property crime are up in Seattle. Here's how officials plan to tackle it
City and county prosecutors say they’re working together to pursue cases of organized retail theft. And small businesses are asking the city for more grants to repair broken windows and damaged storefronts.

Overall crime in Seattle increased 10% last year compared to 2020. Violent crime in particular rose by 20%, a 14-year high. Reports of homicides and rapes did go down last year, but robberies and aggravated assaults contributed to the overall increase.

Property crime increased by 9%, driven by arsons and car thefts. The Seattle Police Department has a separate category for the theft of car parts, like catalytic converters stolen and sold for scrap metal. Theft of car parts jumped almost 80% between 2020 and 2021.

Ann Davison, the new Seattle City Attorney, announced a policy change last week to no longer add to the backlog of thousands of cases that built up during the pandemic (she said she'll announced plans to address that backlog in the coming weeks). Instead, Davison said her office is now making a filing decision within five days of new cases being referred by SPD. Davison said it’s important for victims and perpetrators to see that “the crime and the response to it is connected, and that’s the piece that’s been missing when you have that long time gap of one to two years.”

The Seattle City Attorney’s Office and the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office also announced a partnership to bring forward cases involving organized retail theft. Leesa Manion is chief of staff for the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office. She said representatives from Home Depot told them that people can easily sell stolen goods online.

Manion said one strategy prosecutors are looking at is aggregating multiple incidents of theft by the same person into a single felony charge. kuow.org

Retail Theft & 'Lawlessness' Hitting Big Cities Across the Nation
Virginia Lt. Gov: Lawlessness in America 'coming from the highest levels'
Virginia Lt. Gov. Winsome Sears argued on Sunday that lawlessness in America is "coming from the highest levels," explaining that she believes it is "from the presidency on down where there is no leadership."

Sears made the argument during an exclusive interview with "Sunday Morning Futures," telling host Maria Bartiromo that she believes there is a "vacuum" and that leaders "seem to be following what’s happening on the streets."

"That’s not going to work for anyone because the leader has to lead. That’s why they’re called leaders and they have to show the right way, the righteous way," Sears told Bartiromo.

"There is right and wrong, and you can’t look at what’s happening in the streets and smash-and-grab and say, ‘Well, it’s just social justice.’ No, it’s theft, and it’s destroying our economy."

Sears was referencing the wave of retail thefts taking place in cities across the country in recent months, with thieves stealing everything from luxury goods to eyeglasses.

More than half of retailers nationwide, 57%, said that there has been more organized retail crime since the coronavirus pandemic began, according to a survey conducted last year by the National Retail Federation. yahoo.com

Expanding Security Wire to More Products
Florida Walmart wraps steak in security wire to prevent theft
It's not uncommon for retail and grocery stores to lock up certain items to prevent theft, but a Walmart in Florida is reportedly taking extra precaution in the meat department. According to a viral TikTok, the Walmart in Florida is protecting its ribeye steak from being stolen by wrapping it in security wire.

Walmart appears to be doing everything it can to prevent someone from shoplifting the steak, which costs $20.83, according to its price tag. The video has nearly 200,000 likes on TikTok with about 22,000 comments so far.

"Yo, you gotta be kidding me," the TikTok user said. "Walmart now has the steak locked up... It's come to this. This is getting bad now, man."

It's not the first time that Walmart has locked up products, as they received backlash for locking up "multicultural" personal care items behind glass cases, according to USA Today. In 2018, a California woman sued Walmart after she found personal care products locked away on three separate occasions. The lawsuit was later dropped. audacy.com

Nationwide 'War on Cops'
Police chiefs say officers face crime spurt that includes more attacks on cops
Crime rates have risen sharply during the pandemic, police are being ambushed, recruiters can’t find young people to become cops and too many lawmakers don’t understand the problems facing the nation's police. Those were the messages from a bevy of police chiefs, county sheriffs and state lawmakers who gathered Monday in Waterford for a news conference labeled “In Support of Law Enforcement.”

The event came after nine officers were injured Friday, including five shot by a barricaded gunman, in what Phoenix police are calling an ambush. Over a 24-hour period on Friday, 13 police officers from Arizona, Maryland, New Mexico and Pennsylvania were wounded in shootings involving domestic disputes, traffic stops, serving warrants and going about their duties to protect citizens, in what some are calling a war on cops.

“In Oakland County, we had a barricaded gunman, and the guy shot at us like 30 times; we shot once and we’re being sued.” In the U.S. Congress, the pending George Floyd Act, named after the Minneapolis man whose death at police hands sparked nationwide protests, would end qualified immunity from civil lawsuits — a legal protection that police have possessed nationwide since the late 1800s, according to online summaries of the bill.

Defunding all police is no way to address the small number of abusive officers, Macomb County Executive Mark Hackel said. Hackel was Macomb County sheriff from 2001 to 2010. If anything, more funding and more police are needed, along with better training, Hackel said. freep.com

Retail Thefts Up In Bel Air, Police Say
The Bel Air Police Department has a warning for anyone thinking about stealing something that doesn't belong to them: you'll be prosecuted.

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Fla. Sen. Rubio blames lack of consequences for uptick in retail crime

Higher Prices Aren't Stopping Shoppers
Retail sales surge 3.8% in January, much more than expected amid inflation rise

Retail sales increased 3.8% in January, well ahead of the 2.1% estimate and much better than the 2.5% decline in December.

Consumer spending bounced back sharply in January as rising inflation and a post-holiday surge kept cash registers ringing, the Commerce Department reported Wednesday.

Retail sales for the month rose 3.8%, much better than the 2.1% Dow Jones estimate.

The numbers are not adjusted for inflation, so the 7.5% rise in the consumer price index for the month helped push a reversal from the 2.5% decline in December, which was revised lower from the initially reported 1.9% drop.

Excluding auto sales, the retail gain was 3.3%, after falling 2.8% in the previous month.

Online shopping contributed the most on a percentage basis, with nonstore retailers seeing a gain of 14.5%. Furniture and home furnishing sales increased 7.2%, while motor vehicle and parts dealers saw a 5.7% rise. cnbc.com

Big City Retail May Never Bounce Back
Roth: NYC retail might never fully recover

As retail surges nationwide, prime urban corridors lag, Vornado head says

New York’s high-street retail landlords might never again collect the astronomical rents of the pre-pandemic era, Vornado Realty Trust’s Steven Roth said Tuesday.

Roth and other Vornado executives on an earnings call described a “startling” retail recovery across the country that has included malls and shopping centers. But big cities, including New York, have been laggards, despite a “booming” luxury segment where brick-and-mortar sales outnumber online ones.

Retailers on Fifth Avenue and Times Square have only begun to “nibble” at new locations, Roth said.

“We expect that, over time, street retail will recover,” Roth said. “We do not expect it to recover to the unbelievable highs of the top rents of four or five years ago. But it will recover from today’s levels very aggressively.”

“We need our international tourists back. We need our workers back in the office to fill the streets. And that’s a little behind the curve,” Chera said. therealdeal.com

New Legislation Targets Retail Workers
Once praised as ‘pandemic heroes,’ nothing has changed for service workers who face low pay and unpredictable schedules
Millions of part-time workers across the country are subject to volatile schedules making it hard for them to earn a living wage. Last week, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), working alongside Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.), reintroduced two pieces of legislation aimed at remedying the issues hourly workers face every day: the Schedules That Work Act and the Part-Time Worker Bill of Rights Act.

Warren and DeLauro first introduced the Schedules That Work Act in 2015, and then again in 2017 and 2019. In its current form, the bill would require employers to provide schedules two weeks in advance for workers in retail, food service, cleaning, hospitality, and warehouse occupations. It calls for additional compensation when schedules change abruptly or when workers are assigned to particularly difficult shifts, and it would protect workers from retaliation when they ask for schedule changes.

The Part-Time Worker Bill of Rights Act, first introduced in 2020, would give workers better access to the hours they need to support themselves and their families, requiring employers to offer available hours to existing workers before hiring new staff. It would also extend Family and Medical Leave Act protections to part-time workers and make it easier for them to access the retirement benefits offered to their full-time counterparts. fortune.com

Walmart Winning Retail's Loyalty War
The retailer with the most loyal customers is...

Walmart outranks all others when it comes to return visits to stores.

Walmart had the highest (5.68) score in a ranking of customer loyalty across big-box, grocery, QSR, apparel and department stores by consumer intelligence company InMarket. The average loyalty score for all retailers was 1.85. Customer loyalty in the ranking is defined as average return visits for individual customers to store locations within a set time period. (The loyalty figures are a monthly average for Oct., Nov., and Dec. 2021.

Regional grocer H-E-B had the next highest (4.68) score across all retail sectors. In other findings, Kohl’s is the only department store with higher-than-average customer loyalty, with help from its Amazon partnership and holiday promotions, according to the InMarket report.

See the full list: chainstoreage.com

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COVID Protests Lead to Canada's 1st 'National Emergency' in 50 Years
Trudeau invokes Emergencies Act due to blockades and protests over Covid-19 health measures
The Canadian government is invoking the Emergencies Act for the first time to address the impact of continued protests across the country over Covid-19 health measures, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told reporters Monday.

The Emergencies Act can provide for the use of the military, but may not necessarily lead to that, and Trudeau said the government is not bringing them in. But it can temporarily suspend citizens' rights to free movement or assembly. And the government is taking steps to stop financial support of illegal protests.

The trucker-inspired protests have for weeks disturbed residents in Ottawa's downtown and recently impeded traffic flow at crossings at the US border.

"This is about keeping Canadians safe, protecting peoples' jobs and restoring faith in our institutions," Trudeau said during a news conference in Ottawa, adding that the law will be limited geographically, in scope and in time.

The Canadian law, passed in 1988, states, "For the purposes of this Act, a national emergency is an urgent and critical situation of a temporary nature" that cannot be effectively dealt with under any other law of Canada."

The news comes after the Ambassador Bridge -- North America's busiest land border crossing -- reopened Sunday and Ontario, Canada's most populous province, announced plans to loosen pandemic restrictions. cnn.com

Canada's Most Populous Province Lifts COVID Restrictions
Ontario will no longer require people show vax proof to enter indoor spaces
As of March 1, the province of Ontario will no longer require people show proof of vaccination to enter any indoor spaces, the premier, Doug Ford, announced on Monday morning.

In a call with reporters, Mr. Ford said that the change in public policy to rescind the so-called vaccine pass was based on the diminishing number of coronavirus cases and hospitalizations, and was not a concession to the demonstrators who have camped out in trucks around Parliament Hill; choked international trade by blockading a key border crossing in Windsor, Ontario; and inspired copycat protests around the country and world.

“Let me be very clear: We’re moving in this direction because it’s safe to do so,’’ Mr. Ford said. “Today’s announcement is not because of what’s happening in Ottawa, or Windsor, but despite it.”

Starting Feb. 17, indoor capacity limits in the province will be loosened, and some outdoor gathering limits lifted entirely, Mr. Ford said. Mask mandates, however, will remain in place “a little while longer,” he said, adding he made the decision in consultation with his minister of health.

Ontario follows several provinces that have rolled back coronavirus restrictions in recent weeks — some of them ahead of schedule, though the lifts have all been attributed to declining cases, not the demonstrations. Monday’s announcement by Mr. Ford moves the reopening plan four days ahead of schedule, including lifting the proof of vaccination requirement, which was never outlined in Ontario’s original plan. nytimes.com

Good News for Canadian Retailers
Announcement of Pandemic Restrictions Being Lifted in Ontario Good News for Retailers and Foodservice Businesses
The lifting of some public health restrictions in Ontario is welcome news to thousands of small businesses that have been hit hard over the past two years due to the lingering COVID-19 pandemic.

Dan Kelly, President and CEO of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, said the organization is pleased with the latest development, which he described as a positive step toward recovery and welcome news to the province’s small businesses.

“Removing business restrictions is a big step, but just the first in a small business recovery plan. Only 33 per cent of the province’s small businesses have returned to normal sales levels. The average Ontario small business has taken on nearly $170,000 in new debt just to survive the past two years, and many are dealing with ongoing challenges related to labour shortages, supply chain disruptions, and rising prices.

We urge the Ontario government to back up today’s announcement with a stay-open plan to provide clarity and certainty as we continue to manage the pandemic. This would include ensuring there is adequate healthcare capacity to avoid any renewed restrictions or business closures in the future,” said Kelly. retail-insider.com

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