ADT Commercial unveils new Everon customer engagement platform
at NRF PROTECT

ADT Commercial rebrands eSuite customer engagement experience to Everon, with new, action-driven dashboards that bring critical activity to the forefront

ADT Commercial, a leading security integrator and premier provider of commercial security, fire, life safety, and guarding services in the U.S., today launched the redesign, rebrand and user experience transformation of its customer engagement platform to Everon (formerly eSuite).

The development of the modernized Everon platform was driven by years of direct customer feedback to provide a more intuitive, user-friendly experience that boasts a host of new features, system efficiencies, mobile responsiveness and supportive, self-service functions.

Read more here


Interface Launches AI-based Intelligent Voice-down System

Versatile solution helps to deter a wide range of security threats and performs operational tasks for consumer-facing businesses.

St. Louis, MO (June 5, 2023) - Interface Systems, a leading managed service provider of business security, actionable insights, and purpose-built networks for multi-location businesses today unveiled an intelligent voice-down system designed to automatically detect and discourage loitering and other suspicious activity in the perimeter of a store or restaurant. By utilizing modern AI-based cameras combined with customizable audio messages, auxiliary lighting, and sirens, the new voice-down system detects people and vehicles loitering or acting suspiciously with 99.9% accuracy and warns them of security presence and possible law enforcement action.

Read more in today's Vendor Spotlight column below


ISCPO Announces Tekwave Solutions as a Preferred Vendor Partner

Offers Innovative Software Solutions to Optimize Operations at the Gate

(June 5th, 2023) -Today, the International Supply Chain Protection Organization (ISCPO) announced that Tekwave Solutions will join as the organization's preferred vendor partner as ISCPO continues to support its members and the supply chain security community. The speed of business has exponentially accelerated the supply chain, and ISCPO members rely on a variety of vendors for innovative tools, technology, and services to help them make their departments and flow of goods run effectively.

Click here to learn more
 

---

At NRF Protect 2023 This Week?

Visit These D&D Daily Partners!

June 5-7 in Grapevine, TX
 

D&D Daily Partner	Booth Number		D&D Daily Partner	Booth Number
	1009			616
	700			406
	1209			1117
	1316			822
	909			1504
	900			1016
	817			417
	403			818/1428
	1510			1505
	620			1100
	816		Click here for full list of NRF exhibitors

Retail Associates on the Front Lines of the Violence Surge
Workers just want to do their job, not be on the front lines of public safety

These are the same essential workers who kept New York City alive during the worst of the pandemic.

Imagine you are a worker at a supermarket. You just want to do your job and come home. You did not sign up for anything more, and the last thing our workers want to be is the front lines of public safety, but all too often, they are finding themselves doing just that.

Security focus

The videos from the Collective Action to Protect Our Stores coalition show how often retail theft can turn violent. Some retail workers have been attacked, beaten or threatened.

Retail workers are not trained in self-defense, and we should not be forced to turn our workers into warriors.  Among the many things stores have done is include more security cameras that cover blind spots in our stores, so we can both see if someone is stealing but also if one of our workers is in danger.

Many stores have been forced to hire security guards who are trained for these types of situations. But we don't want to turn our stores into places in need of more security. We don't want to inconvenience shoppers by having them ask for items that are kept under lock and key.

And of course we don't want to be forced to spend money that could be invested into the stores in more security, but for too many stores, the amount of violent action taken against our workers necessitates it.

Tougher penalties

We greatly appreciate the work the New York City Police Department does to keep us safe, and we know Mayor Adams takes retail theft seriously. Their report on retail theft had good suggestions that will make our stores safer.

But the sad truth is too many workers have been attacked, too many stores have been robbed, and too many customers have been placed in danger, which is why we need the state to step up with tougher penalties for recidivist shoplifters and those who attack retail workers. nypost.com


NY Bill Proposes Making Attacks on Retail Workers an Automatic Felony
Op-Ed: Shoplifters are LITERALLY killing folks. It's time to end the madness
The shoplifters are winning - and they're causing untold misery for shoppers, retailers and store workers across the nation. When will this utter madness end?

When will Gov. Kathy Hochul and New York lawmakers realize they need to make attacks on retail workers an automatic felony - and see that the perps suffer real consequences - in order to stem the tide?

Stores throughout the city are locking merchandise behind plastic barriers. And raising prices. (If not closing altogether.)

Progressives excuse it by claiming shoplifting is a crime of poverty, and prog prosecutors turn around and vow not to go after the thieves.

Now-ousted San Francisco DA Chesa Boudin proposed to fight the scourge by addressing "root causes." Manhattan's Alvin Bragg promised during his campaign to go soft on retail theft, and delivered. Chicago's Kim Foxx dramatically eased felony requirements for shoplifting almost as soon as she came into office.

Boston's DA until last year, Rachael Rollins, ordered her prosecutors not to go after shoplifters without special permission from their bosses.

The result: Retail theft - no matter how serious, and even when perpetrated by organized-crime gangs - has been de facto legalized in blue cities (a problem aggravated by shrinking police forces and perverse pro-criminal reforms).

Something must be done. The bill from Sen. Jessica Scarcella-Spanton (D-Staten Island) and Assemblyman Manny De Los Santos (D-Inwood) currently in committee in New York's Legislature to make attacking retail workers an automatic felony would be a more-than-necessary start.

Unless and until lefty DAs wake up, the social decay, economic pillage and tragic bloodshed they've authored will continue. nypost.com


COVID Masks & Online Marketplaces to Blame for Violent ORC Surge?
Deaths of 2 Home Depot workers illustrate surge in organized retail crime
As Home Depot executives describe it, that New York-area crew is part of a growing threat to Americans across the country: so-called organized retail crime, where groups of criminals steal prized items to sell online or elsewhere.

While this kind of theft has been around for years, retailers say it's reached unprecedented levels, sparking deadly violence at some stores. And federal authorities now warn it's become an "absolute threat" to public safety and public health, declaring that violent gangs, dangerous international crime syndicates, and even groups with suspected ties to terrorism are increasingly dabbling in organized retail crime across the United States.

"Organized retail crime is what I call theft for greed, not theft for need," said Scott Glenn, vice president for asset protection at The Home Depot, which has been hit hard by organized retail theft. "[But] they don't just come to a Home Depot and then decide to go home ... they go to Target, they go to Lowe's, they go to CVS, they go anywhere."

The groups behind organized retail theft can be expansive -- "like your traditional organized crime families," as Glenn put it -- or, as Aguilar noted, they can be just two or three people working together.

Glenn said The Home Depot investigated about 400 cases of suspected organized retail theft in the past year alone -- more than one per day -- and that the numbers are "growing double digits year over year."

Asked what's behind the recent spike of organized retail crime, Glenn cited two things in particular: the proliferation of masks during the COVID-19 pandemic, which allowed people to stay "a little bit more anonymous," as he put it, and the explosion of online marketplaces, where people can be even more anonymous. msn.com

   RELATED: Big name retail stores now targeted by gangs in organized hits


The Robin Report ORC Podcast
Organized Retail Crime Takes a Bite Out of Profits
Organized Retail Crime is growing and a $95 billion problem, not to mention its impact on putting employees and shoppers at risk. These crime syndicates resell stolen goods and use the money to fund other illegal activities.

Join Robin Lewis and Shelley E. Kohan, TRR's strategist, as they discuss how ORC is keeping retail CEOs up at night, is eating away at already-stressed margins, and is becoming a safety issue for the workforce and customers.

Click here to listen


Watch Out For the Next TikTok Challenge - It's Happening in Other Cities
Grand Theft Auto NC: Lawlessness and 'TikTok challenge' lead to boom in car theft
The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department says car theft is the top contributor to rising crime in North Carolina's largest city, rising 99% in the first quarter of 2023. In 2022, there were 738 auto thefts after the first quarter of the year, and in the first quarter of 2023, there have been 1,468.

Like in Raleigh, the Charlotte police pointed, not to rising lawlessness among the population, but to external factors - in this case, a challenge on the social media platform TikTok that encouraged people to steal cars, specifically Kias and Hyundais.

There has also been a rise in brazen heists at car dealerships across the state. Over $1 million worth of vehicles were taken just between Feb. 19 and March 13 in four well-planned heists targeting dealerships in Lexington, Charlotte, Cornelius, and Hickory.

It seems like a sort of "gamification" of life as they spend more and more of their time online, whether it's playing video games, browsing social media, or being otherwise involved in virtual worlds.

Whatever else explains the rise in car theft - whether social media, poor security, or organized crime - the underlying culprit is lawlessness. carolinajournal.com


Video: What's the solution to retail theft?

Shoplifting on the rise in East Hollywood & Silver Lake

Fayette County shoplifting and retail theft must be stopped

Target Hit with Bomb Threats & Protesters Over Pride Month Controversy
Pride Month: Anti-LGBTQ+ group protests outside Target in Miami's Midtown
"Boycott Target," a two-minute track by Kurt Jantz, better known as rapper Forgiato Blow, shot to number one on iTunes' Top Ten Chart this week. It was in response to Pride Month merchandise featuring the rainbow flag in support of the rights of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer communities.

"Inside this store, Satan resides. Wash it with the blood of Christ," sings the self-proclaimed "Mayor Of MAGAville" rapper from St. Petersburg, who often pretends to be former President Donald Trump's nephew.

Although a Local 10 crew only spotted Pride Month booze Thursday at the Target in Miami's Midtown neighborhood, a spokesperson for the company claims that Pride merchandise is available for sale at all Target stores. Less than a dozen anti-LGBTQ+ protesters demonstrated against the sale of the items outside The Shops of Midtown, at 3401 N Miami Ave.

Retailers such as Kohl's, Walmart and PetSmart have also felt backlash from the far right for stocking items that extol equal rights and acceptance for gay, lesbian and transgender individuals.

In Target's case, though, it has pulled its Pride merchandise and promotional materials back from store windows in recent days after a string of threats and harassment against employees. The move then sparked multiple bomb threats, targeting stores in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Utah, from people claiming to be angry about the removal of merchandise.

At the Target in South Florida, shoppers have called employees "child groomers," a far-right slang term for pedophiles, and accused them of "shoving your woke agenda down our throats," according to the manager who spoke to The Washington Post.

One employee felt the company had abandoned its LGBTQ+ employees by pulling back its merchandise. But he also can see reasons for backing down because the harassment from customers makes him feel unsafe.  washingtonpost.com local10.com


San Francisco's Retail Collapse Continues
But will a $6 million dollar investment save the city?

'Is this street going to be dead?' Inside one of the last big stores in a famous S.F. retail hub
Urban Outfitters, a "lifestyle retailer" that carries an eclectic mixture of clothing, accessories and home goods aimed at youthful shoppers, is among very few long-time retailers remaining on the section of Powell Street near the cable-car turnaround. All around it, vacant storefronts bear the names of hopeful real estate brokers seeking new tenants.

That tourist-laden area is so crucial to the city that Mayor London Breed has targeted the three-block stretch of Powell from Market Street to Geary Street for a $6 million facelift.

"This stretch of Powell Street should be a destination filled with activity, shopping, and dining," Breed said in a statement announcing the plan to widen sidewalks and replace aging metallic grates and benches - and, most crucially, lure new tenants for the numerous vacancies.

Urban Outfitters' only neighbor on its side of Powell Street, the Gap, shut down its flagship store in 2020, a victim of the pandemic. Next, Gap will shutter its huge Old Navy store across Market Street on July 1. The closures of fast-fashion stores H&M and Uniqlo add to Powell Street's numerous vacancies. Around the corner on Market Street, Anthropologie - owned by Urban Outfitters - shut down last month.

The revitalization plan doesn't directly address urban woes such as crime and homelessness, however, and it was those issues, along with the vacancies, that most Urban Outfitters shoppers commented on.

Urban Outfitters carries its own scar of some of those issues: One huge floor-to-ceiling glass window is boarded up on its Ellis Street side. A security guard said it was shattered by a tossed rock several weeks ago and didn't know when it might be replaced. sfchronicle.com


'Landmark' Legislation Hits Fast-Food Franchisors in CA
Calif. Assembly OKs bill making fast-food franchisors liable for franchisees' labor practices

The landmark legislation codifies a re-definition of franchisors and franchisees as "joint employers." It now heads to the Senate.

Fast-food franchisors would be accountable for the employment policies and practices of their franchisees in California under a bill passed yesterday by the state's Assembly.

The measure essentially codifies that large chains like McDonald's or Chipotle are by definition the joint employers of franchisees' workers, a designation franchisors have been vigorously fighting in California, the nation's largest fast-food market, and elsewhere.

The bill-the Fast-Food Franchisor Responsibility Act, or AB 1228-would make franchisors of brands with at least 100 units nationwide the first party to address allegations that a franchised store in California had violated a state employment rule. A copy of any complaint alleging a violation would be submitted to the franchisor of the accused store. The franchisor would then have 30 days to resolve the problem, or 60 days if an extension is requested.

If the situation is not rectified, both the franchisor and franchisee employing the complainant would be subject to sanctions and court actions.

The measure also states that franchisors can be sued by franchisees in California if the chain's franchise agreement impedes the licensee's compliance with state labor laws.  restaurantbusinessonline.com


Consumers to Spend Record Amount for Father's Day
Consumers will collectively spend a record-high $22.9 billion to celebrate Father's Day this year, according to the annual survey released today by the National Retail Federation and Prosper Insights & Analytics. Total expected spending for the holiday is up from last year's $20 billion and exceeds the previous record of $20.1 billion in 2021. nrf.com


Buy Buy Baby may survive Bed Bath & Beyond's bankruptcy

Facing almost $1 billion in debt, Philly mall owner deals with post-pandemic hangover

Walmart reiterates goal of doubling international gross merchandise in five years


Last week's #1 article --

Fox Business Episode Covers ORC with Matt Shay, President NRF

Retailers Nationwide Call Out ORC As Industry Wide Problem That Needs Action
NRF VP LP Dave Johnston reiterated it's not just about protecting profits. It is about protecting employees and customers as these crimes have gotten more violent.

Kohl's, Foot Locker, Target, Walmart say brazen retail theft worsening 

Matt Shay, NRF President, says on Fox Business episode that right below the normal economic concerns worrying everyone ORC is the #1 concern amongst retail CEO's

The nation's largest retailers are still feeling the effects of brazen retail theft despite their best efforts to prevent loss and increase safety for customers and employees.

The issue is putting employee and customer safety at risk, and also taking a toll on the profits of companies across the industry. Experts project things will continue to get worse unless laws are enacted to better assist in the federal investigation and prosecution of organized retail crime and recovery of lost goods.

In 2022, total shrink - the loss of inventory due to circumstances such as retail theft - cost retailers nearly $100 billion, and it is only getting worse, David Johnston, vice president of asset protection and retail operations for the National Retail Federation (NRF), told FOX Business. 

"Based on what we're hearing already from many of these CEOs and based on what we're experiencing daily in retailers across the nation... I do foresee us to have a much higher loss in 2023," Johnston said. foxbusiness.com