VP, Asset Protection - Job Posted for JC Penney - Based in Dallas, TX
J.C. Penney Company, Inc., one of the nation's largest apparel and home furnishings retailers, is on a mission to ensure every shopping experience is worth the customer's time, money and effort. Whether shopping jcp.com or visiting one of over 850 store locations across the United States and Puerto Rico, customers will discover a broad assortment of products from a leading portfolio of private, exclusive and national brands. Supporting this value proposition is the warrior spirit of over 100,000 JCPenney associates worldwide, who are focused on the Company's three strategic priorities of strengthening private brands, becoming a world-class omnichannel retailer and increasing revenue per customer.

As the Vice President of Asset Protection you will provide leadership and direction in the development, implementation and monitoring of effective, coordinated programs to reduce the possibility of internal and external theft, to reduce shrinkage, to ensure physical protection of associates, customers and Company assets, and to investigate losses. jcp.com

According to numerous creditable sources shrink was close to 5% at Penney's
This was shared with us by numerous executives and was widely discussed soon after the CEO's departure. Now certainly this is not documented and therefore could be questionable. However the number of executives reporting the exact same information is usually not a coincidence. And if it is even close to accurate it only adds to the challenge for the executive. Something that would make it a significant accomplishment if turned around back to industry standards. - Gus Downing
 

SOS Security Site Manager Receives "Security Officer of the Year" Award
SOS Security is pleased to announce that Site Supervisor Amanda Henson was honored with the Ralph Day Security Officer of the Year Award at a ceremony during the ASIS 2018 Conference in Las Vegas, NV.

The Ralph Day Award was created to recognize the incredible acts of heroism within the security industry. "Amanda's actions were nothing short of exceptional," said SOS Security Chairman and CEO Edward B. Silverman, CPP. "Her leadership, poise and life-saving response exemplify the heroics performed by security officers on the front line each day."

In January 2018, an interviewee at her location in Ohio approached the security desk and collapsed to the floor. The officer at the desk immediately called 911. Amanda was also notified and quickly responded to the scene. When she arrived, she realized the victim was not breathing and immediately began CPR, called EMS again and ordered for the AED to be brought to the victim's location. The AED was administered with no effect. Amanda continued CPR until EMS arrived and transported the victim to the local hospital. Later a police officer stopped to inform the team that the victim was alive and doing well thanks to their quick response and Amanda's leadership. prweb.com
 

Amazon's Aggressive Anti-Union Tactics Revealed in Leaked 45-Minute Video
Amazon, the country's second-largest employer, has so far remained immune to any attempts by U.S. workers to form a union. With rumblings of employee organization at Whole Foods - which Amazon bought for $13.7 billion last year - a 45-minute union-busting training video produced by the company was sent to Team Leaders of the grocery chain last week, according to sources with knowledge of the store's activities. Recordings of that video, obtained by Gizmodo, provide valuable insight into the company's thinking and tactics.

Each of the video's six sections, which the narrator states are "specifically designed to give you the tools that you need for success when it comes to labor organizing," take place in an animated simulacrum of a Fulfillment Center. The video's narrators are clad in the reflective vests typical of the real-world setting. "We are not anti-union, but we are not neutral either," the video states, drawing a distinction that would likely be largely academic to potential organizers. To expound on what non-neutrality might look like, the video adds in plain language (emphasis ours):

"We do not believe unions are in the best interest of our customers, our shareholders, or most importantly, our associates. Our business model is built upon speed, innovation, and customer obsession - things that are generally not associated with union. When we lose sight of those critical focus areas we jeopardize everyone's job security: yours, mine, and the associates'."

Amazon's anti-union training video comes to light amid an image crisis for the company. Years of reporting on low pay and poor working conditions reached a fever pitch late this summer when Senator Bernie Sanders proposed legislation directly challenging the company's reliance on social subsidy programs. Likewise, Amazon lost more than it gained in a charm offensive ploy that rewarded its warehouse ambassadors for tweeting nice things about the company - like how they are free to use facility restrooms and are not slaves.

Gizmodo has opted to not publish the video itself in order to maintain source anonymity. gizmodo.com

'They want us to be robots': Whole Foods workers fear Amazon's changes
Whole Foods workers across the United States are beginning to collectively organize in an attempt to push back on changes made to the supermarket chain operations since Amazon acquired the company in August 2017.

Whole Foods staff are worried that Amazon, the grocery chain's new owner, is trying to turn them into "robots" and are seeking to set up a union to protect their jobs.

Workers at "America's healthiest grocery store" say management is trying to cut jobs and reduce wages as they reshape the 38-year-old grocery chain in Amazon's image.

"No one trusts Amazon and there are fears in upper management that Amazon will clean house if sales rates aren't hit," said one of the founders of the Whole Worker community in an interview. Staff are reluctant to speak on the record for fear of retaliation and the company has recently started training managers to fight back against union organization. theguardian.com
 

The Loss Prevention Foundation (LPF) Announces Newest Associate Level Partner
The Loss Prevention Foundation (LPF) announced its newest Associate Level Partner, Prime Communications, Inc. The Associate level partnership secures numerous LPQ and LPC certification course scholarships for Prime to distribute to industry professionals. Headquartered in Elkhorn, NE and founded in 2001, Prime Communications, Inc. (PCI) provides enterprise leaders with high performance infrastructure, physical security & network solutions. PCI was recently named to the SD&I's Fast 50 List as a top systems integrator and is committed to delivering custom engineered security and network solutions. yourlpf.org

Mark Your Calendars for the 2019 ISCPO Conference
The International Supply Chain Protection Organization would like to announce the date of its 2019 Conference "The Evolution of Ecommerce Security", 7-Eleven Store Support Center in Irving, Texas on March 6th - 7th. There will be a wide-range of topics related to global supply chain security, industry trends and investigations.

As in year's past, the conference provides a great venue to network with global industry peers, transportation/logistics professionals, law enforcement, and select vendor partners.

Vendors interested in participating should submit your requests to Byron Smith at byron.smith@iscpo.org

We are looking forward to seeing everyone this year, so mark your calendars. Event registration information will follow soon. For more information, visit our website.

The Holiday Season is Upon Us
Will Bring More Shoplifters and Seasonal Associates

By Mark Doyle, Jack L. Hayes International, Inc.

With the busy holiday season fast approaching, the good news is more shoppers in the stores and hopefully a lot more sales! Unfortunately, the holiday season also brings out more shoplifters and seasonal/temp associates who are likely not as engaged or committed to the company as regular FT/PT associates. So we need to be very vigilant in our shrink/loss controls efforts to ensure the extra sales realized during this season do not get cancelled out by higher losses.

See Jack's article in the 2018 Fall Edition of the Hayes Report on Loss Prevention where he discusses a few anti-shoplifting strategies for the holiday season. We also have an interesting article by Larry Miller discussing several keys for running a low shrink growth store. And, don't forget to see The Bulletin Board (last page) for a rare pic/poster of Jack (years ago) addressing fellow workers regarding an increase in shoplifting during the busy 3 month holiday season. Let's all make this a great and successful holiday season. Until next year... Read the full report here
 

These 60 stores will be closed on Thanksgiving
Weeks ahead of Halloween, the holiday shopping season may seem far off. But BestBlackFriday.com released its 2018 Thanksgiving Day store closings list Monday, a roll call of 60 retailers that won't open their brick-and-mortar stores Nov. 22.

Costco, Ikea, Sam's Club, Home Depot and Lowe's are among the big names on the popular holiday website's third annual Thanksgiving closures list.

"At this point in the year, we have the most confirmed closures we have ever had with 60 retailers," said Phillip Dengler, head of editorial and content marketing for BestBlackFriday.com, which began contacting stores in early September. usatoday.com

Retailers tout big hiring plans this holiday season, but workers will be hard to find
The labor market is tighter than ever. U.S. unemployment is at a record low of 3.9 percent, and companies are under pressure to raise wages, making it more difficult and expensive to keep talent, according to a new report.

Roughly 23% of retailers weren't able to hire all the temporary workers they wanted for the 2017 holiday season, global consulting group Korn Ferry found. That's expected to get even worse this year.

Korn Ferry found that about two-thirds of retailers are hoping to hire at least as many seasonal workers this year as they did last year. But about 63 percent of respondents are also planning to give permanent workers more hours this year, when they aren't able to find people to fill shorter-term roles. cnbc.com
 

Walgreens To Pay SEC $34.5M Over Revenue Projections
Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. agreed to pay the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission $34.5 million to settle allegations that the company and its executives misled investors about revenues that were expected from Walgreens' acquisition of Alliance Boots GmbH, the SEC said Friday.

In agreeing to pay the settlement, Walgreens is not admitting to or denying any of the civil allegations set forth in an SEC order, which traces the root of the alleged deception to 2012, when the chain first announced a two-step merger with Alliance Boots. law360.com

Elon Musk agrees to pay $20 million and quit as Tesla chairman in deal with SEC
Elon Musk agreed Saturday to step down as chairman of Tesla and pay a $20 million fine in a deal to settle charges brought this week by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Under the settlement, which requires court approval, Musk will be allowed to stay as CEO but must leave his role as chairman of the board within 45 days. He cannot seek reelection for three years, according to court filings.

Separately, Tesla agreed Saturday to pay $20 million to settle claims it failed to adequately police Musk's tweet.

The announcement from the SEC comes two days after the agency filed a lawsuit against Musk, claiming he misled investors. The suit centers on tweets Musk sent on August 7 in which he said he had secured funding to take Tesla private at $420 a share, causing the company's stock to soar. He had not secured the funding, the SEC said. cnn.com

Retailers applaud U.S., Canada and Mexico officials for reaching trilateral agreement on NAFTA
The National Retail Federation issued the following statement from President and CEO Matthew Shay after the U.S., Canada and Mexico reached a deal updating the North American Free Trade Agreement.

"We are pleased a deal has been reached that preserves NAFTA's trilateral framework, which is critical to protecting North American supply chains that support millions of American jobs. The administration, as well as officials from Canada and Mexico, should be applauded for months of hard work aimed at modernizing NAFTA for the 21st century - a goal retailers have shared from the start. We will carefully review all the details of the agreement to ensure it promotes U.S. economic growth and maintains access to the products American families need at the prices they can afford." nrf.com

California becomes 1st state to require women on corporate boards
California has become the first state to require publicly traded companies to include women on their boards of directors, one of several laws boosting or protecting women that Gov. Jerry Brown signed Sunday.

The measure requires at least one female director on the board of each California-based public corporation by the end of next year. Companies would need up to three female directors by the end of 2021, depending on the number of board seats. apnews.com

Michaels - Director - DC and Artistree LP and Safety job removed from website

Whataburger - Director Risk Management job no longer available

belk - Director of IT Security job removed from website

Rite Aid overhauls board after failed merger

Toys 'R' Us store was 'complete chaos' during closing

Toys R Us owners to set up employee fund
 

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