NRF Protect To Recognize Law Enforcement, Loss Prevention Experts
Ring of Excellence, Law Enforcement Retail Partnership and LP Case of the Year Award Winners
A prosecutor, a veteran retail loss prevention executive who started as a security guard, and a LP team that helped stop an organized crime ring will be honored this week as the National Retail Federation holds its annual NRF PROTECT conference in Dallas.

"The loss prevention community rarely receives recognition for their behind-the-scenes work protecting retailers and their customers against crime," NRF Vice President for Loss Prevention Bob Moraca said. "These brave men and women are leaders in their field and defenders of their communities, doing everything they can to keep people, merchandise and storefronts safe from the next attack."

Ring of Excellence Award
This year's recipient is the late Bob MacLea, who had more than 40 years of experience as a loss prevention expert. MacLea worked his way through the ranks at The TJX Companies Inc., beginning as a security guard at Marshalls in 1975 and eventually becoming senior vice president of loss prevention in 2010. MacLea, who will be honored on Wednesday, died in March after a battle with cancer but his compassion for others left a lasting impact on many in the loss prevention community.

Long an advocate for the profession, MacLea was a founding member of the Loss Prevention Foundation and the Loss Prevention Research Council as well as an active member of the NRF LP Council.

Law Enforcement Retail Partnership Award
It will be presented to Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Daniel Haier for his work in targeting and identifying a New York City organized retail crime crew that used false identities and stolen credit cards to steal high-value products.

Haier coordinated with retailers and law enforcement who used GPS tracking devices and digital evidence that led to the prosecution of 16 individuals. His efforts have led other asset protection teams and law enforcement to empty similar strategies in targeting organized retail crime.


Loss Prevention Case of the Year Award
This year's winner is the Louis Vuitton Americas Asset Protection Team, which worked alongside law enforcement agencies in multiple states over a five-month span to identify theft patterns and likely targets. The investigation led to charges against two organized retail crime culprits with 22 known thefts that had cost Louis Vuitton more than $239,000 in losses. nrf.com
 

"Target targets black people"
Second woman says Southfield, MI Target racially profiled her, accused her of stealing
One week after a local woman says she was racially profiled at a Target store in Southfield, a second woman has come forward saying she was also subjected to a similar encounter with store security.

"We now have enough evidence to know empirically that Target targets black people," said attorney Jasmine Rand.

Rand and supporters gathered Monday along with 20-year-old Ashonae Davis, who says she was falsely accused of stealing, racially profiled and forced to undress at a Southfield Target.

Also at the press conference a second woman, Erica Anderson, with claims of harassment at the same store.

After seeing Davis's story on FOX 2 last week, Anderson decided to go public about her experience at the same store on Southfield Road. Anderson said she left the store last November after failing to return an item. The receipt was sitting on top.

"She was accosted from behind by a loss prevention employee in plain clothing," said Rand, a Civil Rights attorney. "Who grabbed her arm, and aggressively dragged her back into the store."

Rand says within the past week a half a dozen witnesses have come forward from the Southfield store and dozens more from across the country.

Still gathering evidence, potential witnesses and victims to file a lawsuit, Rand is hoping to also start a national conversation. She is asking those with similar experiences to tell their stories using the hashtag #targetedbytarget.

WEB EXTRA: A statement by Target after deadline was released. It is below:

"Immediately after the incident with Ms. Davis, a Southfield store leader spoke with her to apologize and we launched a full investigation with our team. As part of the investigation, we terminated the store's security team member the day after the incident for not following Target's defined security procedures and took disciplinary action with other involved team members. Additionally, Target's head of store security and our regional leadership team went to Southfield last week to meet with the store team and reinforce our security procedures and expectations for how we engage with our guests.

While we're not in a position to comment specifically on today's allegations, we will immediately review the concerns raised. We take all allegations of employee misconduct seriously and do not tolerate discrimination of any kind. We regularly train our team members to uphold Target's values, including longstanding security training, unconscious bias training that's been rolling out to our entire team since 2017, and guest service training. We want our team members, guests and all families to know we will never tolerate anything except respect and inclusion for everyone." fox2detroit.com
 

McDonald's to Post $80-$90 Million Charges for Restructuring, Layoffs
McDonald's Corp plans to take $80 million to $90 million in charges during the second quarter from a restructuring at its U.S. operations that includes layoffs.

McDonald's in a statement in its investor relations page on Monday revealed it would eliminate its regional structure and focus on field offices. It will streamline its field organization and use resources for technology and field consulting.

The company did not disclose how many employees would be laid off.

The charges primarily are for severance costs, closing field offices, the company said, adding that its transition into the new structure would be completed in the third quarter of 2018. nytimes.com

Another one bites the dust: 11 retailers closing stores this year
As the retail industry right-sizes itself for this next step in its revolution, here is a look at the companies closing the most stores this year.
 

Some retailers are bucking the trend, opening dozens or even hundreds of new stores. One thing most of the companies have in common? They sell discounted or value-priced merchandise.

Dollar General: 900 stores
Aldi: 200 stores
Five Below: 125 stores
Ross Stores: 100 stores
Gap: 90 stores
Walmart: 90 stores
Gander Outdoors: 69
Old Navy: 60
Untuckit: 50
Target: 35 buffalonews.com

Staying Afloat:
Why the Chief Customer Officer Is Key to Keeping Retail Doors Open
The retail industry has felt the impact of online shopping and, in 2017 alone, 5,855 high street retailers shuttered their doors. The first quarter of 2018 shows little hope for a storefront revival. In this piece, Kris McKenzie, SVP & general manager, EMEA, Calabrio, tells RetailTechNews that changes in customer behaviour have greatly determined the fate of many stores. Sky-high expectations, whether that's online or offline, have caused a shift in everything from the tools retailers use to roles within the C-suite. If retailers want to stay afloat, they must make changes to have the right people and technology to deliver the experience that consumers want.

The changing C-suite
It's not just the customer experience that's becoming more complex; the roles of the CEO, CMO, and CIO are becoming more complex, too. Customer data is everywhere, and CMOs and CIOs, in particular, must implement tools and strategies that somehow turn the massive amount of customer data into increased revenue and topline growth in stores and online. As these roles continue to evolve, and customer expectations continue to increase, successful retail strategies hinge on a key addition to this duo: the Chief Customer Officer (CCO). retailtechnews.com

Generation Z: Brick-and-Mortar's Saving Grace?
The future of physical retail might be in the hands of Generation Z. Luckily for retailers, the demographic has a penchant for shopping in stores, according to a new Criteo report focused on the spending habits of the set. The younger consumers continue to display a preference for engaging with brands both online and off-line, albeit for different purposes.

Surveying "thousands" of Generation Z individuals in the U.K., U.S., France, Germany, Brazil and Germany, the poll aimed to decipher new shopping behaviors within the demographic, a Criteo spokesman said.

Generation Z continues to visit physical stores, the research discovered. "Eighty percent [of Gen Z consumers] look forward to shopping in stores when they have time," said the report. This is mainly due the opportunity to interact with product prior to purchasing. "Sixty-five percent don't like to buy a product unless they can touch them," the report said. wwd.com
 

Companies Raise Summer Wages to Compete for Seasonal Workers
With unemployment matching a record low at 3.8 percent, more companies are willing to offer the maximum hourly wage they feel their business can afford rather than the minimum required by law, according to a survey of 1,000 hiring managers in the retail, restaurant and hospitality sectors, conducted by Wakefield Research.

About 74 percent of respondents plan to pay an hourly wage of at least $11, compared to last year when only 53 percent of employers planned to pay the same or more. Just 12 percent said they would pay the minimum wage this summer, down from 18 percent in 2017.

Twenty-five percent of employers hiring for the summer polled by CareerBuilder in April said that they plan to pay summer hires more than $15 an hour on average, double the federal minimum wage of $7.25. Most employers (87 percent) plan to pay $10 or more per hour on average, and 56 percent expect to pay $12 or more per hour, according to the national survey of 1,012 hiring managers and HR professionals. shrm.org

Is Facebook Advertising Safe for Retailers?
The news about Facebook and its issues with Cambridge Analytica has been widely reported, with Facebook coming under intense scrutiny and fire for the perceived inadequacy of its privacy controls that enabled the now defunct British consulting firm to harvest and use Facebook user data to influence the 2016 U.S. election. Specifically, users and lawmakers had serious questions about the accessibility of personal profile and user data on the social network. As a result, Facebook implemented a long list of initial changes, in an attempt to show how it is enhancing data privacy.

But what does this mean for retailers and the consumers they want to reach and engage on Facebook? Should they still have data privacy concerns?

In this case, the short answer is no. The good news for retailers is that the vast majority of data used to create social ads on Facebook is not the data at issue. As long as retailers comply with the separate - but similarly infamous - EU GDPR guidelines, most retailers will experience little to no changes with their Facebook advertising. chainstoreage.com

Home Depot employee attacked by Monkey
The pet monkey escaped from its owner's truck and went ape on a store employee in Okeechobee, Florida. Authorities said the domesticated spider monkey, was waiting in a car when its owner, Tina Ballard, went into the store to shop. Employee Marilyn Howard, 50, was on break when she heard co-workers yelling there was a monkey on the loose. The employee grabbed onto the leash and the monkey climbed on her back, but when the front sliding glass door of the store opened, the monkey got scared and bit Howard. kron4.com


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