How Surging Crime Fueled Macy's Strike
A Labor Strike Over Shoplifting

Macy's workers say thieves jeopardize their safety, and the union walked out.

Over the weekend hundreds of workers at three Macy's stores in the Seattle suburbs went on strike to protest rampant shoplifting and risks to employee safety.

United Food & Commercial Workers Local 3000 says Macy's "is not doing enough to address shoplifting, violent shoppers, and other safety threats to workers and customers." Among other evidence, the union points to an incident involving Liisa Luick, a longtime employee at the Macy's store some 20 miles north of downtown.

Ms. Luick says workers at her store "frequently observe shoplifting and even occasional violence," and "the lack of security affects our customers too." But when she called 911 about "a repeat shoplifter that even law enforcement was familiar with," Macy's suspended her without pay "for nearly three weeks," she wrote in a letter to the Everett Herald last week. Now Macy's workers "are afraid to call the police because we worry we'll get in trouble or even lose our jobs," she said.

Macy's declined to respond to Ms. Luick's claims but said "our top priority is to ensure the safety of our colleagues and customers in-store." UFCW Local 3000 said it filed an unfair labor practice charge against Macy's over its treatment of Ms. Luick and that the company "eventually provided back pay."

Macy's and others can be forgiven for wondering if calling the cops is pointless. Theft up to $750 is a mere misdemeanor in the state, and many shoplifting cases are never prosecuted. Where crime is tolerated it proliferates.

UFCW 3000 ended its strike Sunday night, saying "our hope is that Macy's will come to the table, ready to engage in good faith over solutions on safety" and other contract issues. The union could do more to ensure the safety of its members by exerting political pressure on Washington lawmakers to lower the felony threshold for shoplifting. wsj.com


Cities & Retailers Take Action as Shopping Fears Surge
U.S. cities, retailers boost security as crime worries grow among potential shoppers
A flash mob of at least 17 masked thieves who pushed past holiday shoppers to rob a Nike store Sunday night near Los Angeles is exactly the kind of crime cities across the country are trying to crack down on this holiday season.

After a series of thefts scared away shoppers and shut down stores, San Francisco launched the Safe Shopper Initiative that involves beefing up police patrols to ease jitters.

The same goes for Dolphin Mall in Sweetwater, Florida, a suburb of Miami, where K-9s and extra officers will be more visible. "You're going to be probably the safest you could be anywhere, any place in the world," Sweetwater's mayor, Jose "Pepe" Diaz, said.

This comes as a new annual Gallup poll on personal safety shows more Americans fear becoming victims of a crime, with 40% of respondents to the poll saying they were afraid to walk alone at night within a mile of their home, the highest such number in the poll since 1993. Fifty percent of respondents feared getting their car stolen, and 17% said they avoid going to the mall.

Even in posh Beverly Hills, officials said they are determined to keep shoppers safe. Police drones are now in the air 14-hours a day. Beverly Hills police officers are also monitoring 2,500 security cameras in the city.

"We've created this real-time watch center where all of the city cameras can be watched in a single place," Beverly Hills Mayor Dr. Julian Gold told CBS News, adding that he believes the drones and security cameras have led to a decrease in crime, while helping shoppers and residents feel safer.

"If we don't do something soon, our stores are going to be out of business," said Aaron Jones, president and CEO of International Protective Service, which provides armed guards to commercial businesses nationwide. He says the number of requests for security guards has tripled since 2020.

"They realize that they have to do something to protect people," Jones said. In addition to extra security, some retailers are experimenting with new store layouts to help reduce blind spots and deter shoplifters. cbsnews.com


California's 'Real Public Safety Plan' Looks to Fight Holiday Theft
California Increases Law Enforcement Operations Heading Into Holiday Shopping Season To Combat Organized Retail Crime

Heading into the busy holiday shopping season, California launches organized retail crime crackdown.

SACRAMENTO - Governor Gavin Newsom today announced the California Highway Patrol (CHP) is increasing statewide efforts to combat organized retail crime as the annual holiday shopping season begins. As part of the Governor's Real Public Safety Plan, the CHP is increasing its law enforcement presence in key retail districts across California and its Organized Retail Crime Task Force (ORCTF) is increasing enforcement efforts through proactive and confidential law enforcement operations with allied agencies through the holidays - keeping more shoppers, merchants, and retail districts safe.

The additional law enforcement presence across California is an effort to keep shoppers and merchants safe while catching retail criminals in the act. To help reduce the amount of retail crime that occurs during the holiday shopping season, the CHP's ORCTF regional teams in Southern California, the Bay Area, the San Joaquin Valley, and Sacramento will be collaborating with retailers, loss prevention, and local law enforcement agencies. Additionally, several proactive and confidential law enforcement operations are planned with allied agencies throughout the state and investigators are aggressively investigating and taking down known boosters and fencing operations linked to organized retail crime.

Since the inception of the ORCTF in 2019, the CHP has been involved in nearly 2,200 investigations that have led to the arrests of more than 1,500 suspects and the recovery of nearly 420,000 items of stolen retail merchandise valued at more than $33 million. Building on these successful efforts, Governor Newsom announced earlier this year that the state awarded the largest-ever single investment to combat organized retail crime in California history - sending over $267 million to 55 cities and counties to increase arrests and prosecutions for organized retail crime.

Public safety funding in California is at an all-time high. Building on investments to improve officer retention and well-being and the Governor's Real Public Safety Plan - which focuses on strengthening local law enforcement response, ensuring perpetrators are held accountable, and getting guns and drugs off our streets - California's 2023-24 budget includes more than $800 million in funding to support multiple programs to improve public safety and crack down on retail crime.

A virtual media briefing highlighting the CHP's increased holiday enforcement efforts, along with efforts in Los Angeles and San Francisco, is available for viewing and download here. gov.ca.gov


   Related Coverage of California's Holiday Retail Crime Crackdown

   • Gavin Newsom deploys CHP across California to crack down on organized retail crime

   • Authorities step up patrols to fight retail crime ahead of holidays

   • SoCal law enforcement focused on fighting retail theft during holiday shopping season

   • San Bernardino County ramping up efforts to combat retail theft over holiday season

   • Campbell police given much less money by state to combat retail theft than hoped


New York Gov Vetoes Bill to Establish State ORC Task Force
Meanwhile, NY retailers lost over $4B to organized shoplifting in 2022

NY retailers lost $4.4 billion due to organized shoplifting rings in 2022: group
Retailers across New York state say there's no end in sight to the rising epidemic of organized shoplifting rings - and warn it could lead to more store closures, increased costs for consumers and threats of violence against store employees.

Store owners said they lost $4.4 billion last year as a result of retail theft - which they say adds to the urgency for Gov. Kathy Hochul to crack down.

However, Hochul vetoed a bipartisan bill last week - to the chagrin of store owners - that would have created a task force to combat organized theft.

Hochul rejected a proposal that would have created a 15-member panel made up of experts appointed by the governor, Legislature and the state attorney general that would have put together a list of recommendations to respond to retail theft.

The Retail Council of New York State, the Albany-based lobbying group which represents retailers statewide, said it was "extremely disappointed" by Hochul's veto.

Law enforcement officials from New York City to Albany to Syracuse have reported increases in incidents of retail theft - blaming the spike on progressive prosecutors who encourages criminal behavior with lenient punishment for shoplifters.

The Big Apple saw a 64% increase in reported incidents of retail theft during the four-year period between mid-2019 and June of this year, according to the Council on Criminal Justice.

A New York Police Department spokesperson pointed to crime statistics showing that there were more than 93,000 incidents of petty larceny through the end of October - which is 29% higher compared to the same period two years ago but 5% lower compared to the same period last year. nypost.com

   RELATED: Hochul vows to help Mayor Adams tackle public safety


93% of NYC Grocers Hit By Shoplifting
Majority of NYC grocers have seen shoplifters this year: report
Nearly all grocers - 93% - in New York City say they have been victims of shoplifting this year. Of those, 60% said they've been burglarized every single day of the week in 2023, according to the results of a September survey by members of the National Supermarkets Association shared with The New York Post.

Although the survey states that 72% of supermarket owners have beefed up security measures, those who spoke to The Post said they still feel like their stores are being targeted.

"We've implemented a security company, we all have walkie-talkies, but we still get hit with shoplifting, sometimes two, three ... seven shoplifters (a day,)" Frank Pimentel, who owns a SuperFresh supermarket in Mott Haven and a Food Universe in Melrose, told the newspaper.

Stores throughout New York state lost $4.4 billion due to retail theft in the last year, according to Capitol One Shopping Research. This comes as the mayor of New York City recently announced plans to freeze the hiring of new police officers through 2025. newsnationnow.com


Best Buy's Simple But Effective Theft Solution
Best Buy's Toughest Defense Against Shoplifting? More Employees

While some retailers have locked up products and closed stores, Best Buy is adding more workers

Best Buy is looking to deter shoplifters by stocking its stores full of workers. Across its approximately 1,000 stores across the U.S., the electronics retailer has increased staffing levels, full-service checkout lines and security at entrances to help curb shoplifting, the company's Chief Executive Officer Corie Barry said earlier this week, CNN reported.

"In certain parts of the country in particular, there is a real issue around theft and organized crime," Barry said in a media call. "With that being said... we have not called out material impacts to our business as a result of shrink for at least the last two years."

Retailers, grocery stores and pharmacies across the country have taken a variety of different approaches to stave off retail theft, and its costs, as concerns over shoplifting continue to grow. Some have opted for more open floor plans, in order to eliminate "blind spots" and hiding places for potential thieves.

Others have started putting particularly tempting items under lock and key: Beauty retailers Sephora and Ulta have both begun placing full-sized perfume bottles in locked cabinets, getting rid of displays with unopened boxes of the fragrances to minimize retail theft.

Some retailers, however, have decided to close stores they say are frequent victims of shoplifting and organized crime theft. Target and Walmart, for instance, both closed several of their stores in recent months, citing retail theft and mounting losses to their businesses. themessenger.com


The New Violent Burglary Trend Targeting Retailers
'Ram raiding' and 'crash and grab' new violent burglary trend targeting brick-and-mortar businesses
The crime, referred to as "ram raiding" and also "crash and grab," depending on where it happens, involves driving a vehicle through a store's front window to break in and loot. The Wall Street Journal highlighted the issue over the weekend, calling them "drive-through burglaries."  (Reported in the D&D Daily here)

Targets have ranged from small boutiques like Rush Hour to luxury outlets and big box chains. "SPD has been seeing this type of tactic of utilizing a vehicle to ram a business' entry in order to steal merchandise from within occurring in multiple incidents," Seattle Police Public Information Officer Juddina Gulpan told Fox News Digital. "It is unknown if these incidents are related."

The crimes tend to occur in the early morning hours, leaving shopkeepers showing up to work to find devastating damage.

To combat the crime wave, prosecutors need to get serious about holding the suspects accountable - and the people who buy and sell the goods they steal. Otherwise, catch-and-release and no-bail policies are crushing brick-and-mortar store owners.

"When you reconfigure an entire criminal justice system without any input from the enforcement side, you're gonna get this kind of outcome," he told Fox News Digital.  foxbusiness.com


Liberty, MO: Law enforcement combating shoplifting, organized retail theft
The Liberty Police Department has seen an increase in shoplifting and organized retail thefts at stores along the Kansas Street corridor and at other retail establishments in the city.

Mississippi among least impacted by retail theft nationally

Organized retail theft growing in Utah, adding to cost increases

Inventory Management the Real Shrink Driver?
Beyond theft, inventory management issues plague retail shrink

Shrink has become a major topic in retail, and has been a frequently used buzzword on earnings calls over the past year.

While retail theft is part of the ongoing shrink problems, industry watchers aren't convinced it's the only thing contributing to losses. Consultants and executives say shrink is a multifacated problem, and one that requires retailers to invest in multiple long term solutions to combat the issue.

How overall shrinkage impacts retailers

Shrink has been baked into retailers' business model for decades, explained EY retail partner Jen Fagan said. As such, shareholders and industry execs have come to expect it to hover at around 1.5%. But in the past few years, inventory management has become challenging for retailers - especially amid excess merchandise and missing demand forecasts.

Fagan said that for the time being, issues that are out of the retailer's control are currently being dealt with by industry organizations and new government policies. But retailers can stand to better control their internal operations by investing in long term tools and tactics.

Approaches to combating the problem

One of the top loss prevention solutions includes upgrading inventory management systems to gain greater visibility into a retailer's shrink, Fagan said. While many retailers have updated their data systems in recent years, she said that not everyone is quite there yet.

Another option is investing in theft-prevention technology. Wade Jubrey, an associate partner in the consumer practice at Kearney, said tech solutions range from surveillance tools, both hidden and visible, and AI-powered video analytics that can detect suspicious behaviors in real time.

This technology can be combined with RFID tags and readers to give retailers better inventory visibility - which, in turn, can cut down on shrink.  modernretail.co
 

Retailers Get a Handle on Inventories Ahead of Holidays
Learning from the challenges of the pandemic

WSJ: Retailers Have Cleaned Up Their Inventories for the Holidays

A sharp pullback in stockpiles comes as merchants are trying to focus on getting a better handle on volatile consumer demand

Warehouses are no longer stuffed with merchandise and store shelves aren't spilling over with discounted goods in hopes of luring wary consumers into last-minute sales. Instead, merchants from big-box retailers like Walmart and Target to more specialized sellers like Best Buy and Dick's Sporting Goods have pared back their inventories while trying to focus their supply chains more tightly on products that shoppers want.

Forecasting shopper demand has been one of the biggest challenges for retailers mapping out their supply chains during the pandemic, as volatile shifts in buying patterns had consumers switching their spending rapidly from items such as home decor to office apparel and then towards travel.

Many retailers have spent much of the year working through the stockpiles from last year and now say they have cleaned up their distribution centers and their balance sheets.

Supply-chain flexibility has become crucial after forecasting tools were fractured during the pandemic. Some retailers bulked up orders with their vendors to avoid product shortages amid ongoing supply-chain disruptions, employing a "just-in-case" inventory management strategy that left many companies saddled with goods. wsj.com


Sensormatic Solutions Data Shows Black Friday Traffic Spike
Shopper traffic spiked on Black Friday 2023, according to data from Sensormatic Solutions

In-store traffic on Nov. 24 was up 4.6% from last year and up seven points from 2023's average, according to the brand's data

Black Friday 2023 had the strongest year-over-year traffic performance in recent years, compared to pre-pandemic norms

NEUHAUSEN, Switzerland-Nov. 25, 2023-Sensormatic Solutions, the leading global retail solutions portfolio of Johnson Controls, today shared its initial shopper traffic data from U.S. brick-and-mortar retail stores and shopping centers on Black Friday. The brand's analytics revealed that shopper visits increased 4.6% this Black Friday, Nov. 24, compared to the previous year. These results represent a positive deviation from overall year-over-year performance, as traffic has been down 2.4% on average throughout 2023 to date.

"This is an excellent result for retailers," said Grant Gustafson, head of retail consulting and analytics at Sensormatic Solutions. "Though we anticipated an increase, in-store shopper traffic outperformed our expectations. Consumers are again finding joy in brick-and-mortar shopping, seeing it as an experience to be shared with loved ones. It's a testament to the hard work retailers have done to streamline journeys and deliver satisfying experiences." sensormatic.com

 
Winners and losers of Black Friday 2023

Winners

Mobile and online - For the first time, mobile shopping is expected to overtake desktop buying this holiday season, according to Adobe Analytics. More than half of spend online (51.2%) will be on mobile devices.

The calendar - Super Saturday, the Saturday immediately before Christmas, will be bolstered by an extra weekend shopping day this year since the holiday falls on a Monday.

Discount hunters - Momentum and interest in shopping on Thanksgiving, Black Friday and Cyber Monday seems to have resumed, Pandya said.

Loser

Doorbuster decline - In recent years, it appears that one of Black Friday's signature elements and draws - early morning doorbuster deals at big-box stores - have lost some of their urgency, experts said. retaildive.com
 

Protesters Disrupt Macy's Parade, Holiday Traffic & Mall Shoppers

Macy's Parade Stormed by Gaza War Protesters
Gaza War protesters disrupt NYC Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade
Protesters stormed the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in Manhattan on Thursday to call attention to the Gaza War, forcing marchers, floats and balloons to veer from their path as activists glued themselves to the pavement on the parade route.

Demonstrators jumped the barricades at Sixth Ave. near W. 45th St. in an attempt to block the festive cavalcade around 10 a.m. Some demonstrators glued their hands to the asphalt, making it more challenging for police trying to round them up.

The demonstration forced some of the parade's 26 floats, 32 balloons, and 8,000 participants to navigate around the protesters as cops struggled to remove them from the street.

As the floats and marching bands maneuvered around them, the protesters - clad in white jumpsuits emblazoned with the words "colonialism," "militarism" and "ethnic cleansing" - poured fake blood on each other and the roadway, videos show.

Another dozen protesters rushed the parade route and unfurled a banner that read "Genocide then genocide now," and chanted "Free Palestine," video shared by the group Writers Against the War on Gaza shows.

Cops hauled the protesters off the parade route and detained 34 of them. nypost.com nydailynews.com  nytimes.com


Manhattan Bridge Shut Down by Protesters for 4 Hours Over Holiday Weekend
Pro-Palestinian protestors shut down Manhattan Bridge, snarling holiday traffic
Throngs of pro-Palestinian protestors shut down both sides of the Manhattan Bridge for nearly four hours on Sunday, according to police. The demonstrators flooded the span around 1:45 p.m. on one of the busiest travel days of the year, cops said.

Over 1,000 protestors called for a cease-fire at the demonstration organized by self-described anti-Zionist organization Jewish Voice for Peace.

The demonstrators sat in the roadway at the Manhattan-side approach to the bridge and hung a gigantic banner that read "Let Gaza Live" on the iconic granite arch, video posted to X shows.

The bridge reopened to traffic around 5:40 p.m. and it was not immediately clear if there were any arrests, police said.

On Thursday, protestors stormed the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in Midtown Manhattan, forcing some of the parade's 26 floats, 32 balloons and 8,000 participants to avoid them as police worked to remove them from the parade's path. nydailynews.com


How Protests Can Impact Stores & Malls
Pro-Palestinian protesters cause lockdown at Crabtree Valley Mall
Protesters caused a disturbance and briefly forced a lockdown at Crabtree Valley Mall on Black Friday. According to Raleigh Police Department, the pro-Palestine protesters went into the mall and caused a disturbance around 10 a.m.

People inside the mall called 911 reporting shots fired, but officers confirm there were never any shots fired in the mall. When officers arrived, they broke up the protest. Nobody reported being injured in the event.

Shoppers told ABC11 they were on edge after the scare. "A lot of cop cars lined up along the side here in front of the Crabtree sign over here," Carly Berger said. abc11.com


Gucci Sues Several Retailers Again, Alleging They Sold Counterfeit Products
The Italian luxury giant has gone to court again, suing Sam's Club, Century 21 and Lord & Taylor, to protect its brand against what it alleges are counterfeit goods.

Best Buy Q3 report: Shrink remains elevated but is at expected levels

Holiday shoppers to spend an average $875 this season: NRF

Cantaloupe recalled over salmonella fears in 32 states


Quarterly Results

Abercrombie & Fitch Q3 comp's up 16%, sales up 20%

Dick's Q3 comp's up 1.7%, net sales up 2.8%

Canada's Loblaw Q3 Retail segment up 5%, Food comp's up 4.5%, Drug Retail comp's up 4.6%, total sales up 5%

Kohl's Q3 comp's down 5.5%, sales down 5.2%

Nordstrom's Q3 Nordstrom net sales down 9.4%, Rack net sales down 1.8%, digital down 11.3%, net sales down 6.8%

Best Buy Q3 comp's down 7%, online down 9.3%, sales down 7.8%

Lowe's Q3 comp's down 7.4%
 

Senior LP & AP Jobs Market

Cool Job
Vice President, Security job posted for U.S. Soccer Federation in Chicago, IL
This position is responsible for establishing, implementing, and providing coordinated leadership and direction in all aspects of safety and security operations, procedures, and policies to protect our national teams, staff, reputation, facilities, and other assets of U.S. Soccer. This includes event security operations, the planning and execution of emergency preparedness and response protocols and maintaining relationships with local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies. recruiting.paylocity.com
 

AutoZone Hack Impact
185,000 Individuals Impacted by MOVEit Hack at Car Parts Giant AutoZone

Car parts giant AutoZone says nearly 185,000 individuals were impacted by a data breach caused by the MOVEit hack.

Car parts giant AutoZone, which has over 7,000 stores across the Americas, is informing nearly 185,000 individuals that their personal information was compromised as a result of the massive MOVEit hacking campaign.

AutoZone revealed that cybercriminals have stolen information, including social security numbers, after exploiting a vulnerability in the MOVEit Transfer managed file transfer application. However, the company is not aware of instances where the exposed information has been used for fraud.

Nevertheless, impacted customers are being offered free credit monitoring and identity protection services. In response to the breach, the MOVEit application was temporarily disabled by AutoZone, the vulnerability was patched, and the affected system was rebuilt.

AutoZone pointed out that it is one of the more than two thousand organizations impacted by the MOVEit hack. However, the company determined that the exploitation of the MOVEit vulnerability resulted in data exfiltration only on August 15, more than two months after news of widespread exploitation broke.

Starting in late May and possibly earlier, the Cl0p ransomware group exploited a MOVEit software vulnerability tracked as CVE-2023-34362 to steal data from many organizations that had been using the application to transfer files.

According to cybersecurity firm Emsisoft, the number of impacted organizations - both directly and indirectly - reached 2,620 as of November 21, with more than 77 million individuals being affected.

The list of victims includes hundreds of US schools, the state of Maine, the US Department of Energy, and energy giants Siemens Energy, Schneider Electric, and Shell. securityweek.com

   RELATED: Over 2600 organizations & 77M people impacted by MOVEit hack


Hackers Using New SEC Rules To Their Benefit
Cyber Criminals Weaponize SEC's Future Cyber Disclosure Rules
In a first for both cybersecurity and securities law, a ransomware company filed a complaint with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") against its own hacking victim for failure to disclose the hack itself. The move is akin to a car thief suing their victim for failing to report the stolen car to their insurer.

The ransomware company, known as AlphV/Black Cat ("AlphV"), a Russian-based group, confirmed to Databreaches.net that they made the report to the SEC, alleging MeridianLink failed to comply with the SEC's upcoming cyberattack disclosures rules. AlphV is a well-known cyberattacker, having previously gained notoriety for attacks against major casinos and hotels.

As we have covered previously on Aug. 2, 2023, and Aug. 21, 2023, the SEC's forthcoming cybersecurity rules do not actually take effect until December, but the incident sheds light on an emerging concern for the cybersecurity industry: cyber criminals are sophisticated, well-resourced, and will be closely following companies' disclosures around cyberattacks to help them target future victims and assert maximum leverage, especially where ransomware is concerned.

Many analysts have interpreted this rule to require disclosure of nearly every form of cyberattack, since even if the attack itself is small, it could suggest future, more material attacks. No company, including corporate gatekeepers like compliance officers and lawyers, wants to be dinged for failing to disclose an attack. In practice, this could lead to a cyberattack mentality of, "when in doubt, report it." The effect militates toward disclosing cyberattacks than not.  jdsupra.com


CISA, NCSC Offer a Road Map, Not Rules, in New Secure AI Guidelines

US and UK authorities issued new recommendations for companies that build and rely on AI, but they stop short of laying down the law.

On Sunday, the US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and the UK's National Cyber Security Centre released new Guidelines for Secure AI System Development.

The Guidelines - co-sealed by 23 domestic and international cybersecurity organizations - build on ongoing White House efforts to mitigate AI risk and the secure-by-design philosophy. They provide an outline for building security into AI systems, but stop short of instituting any rules or regulations on the industry, in contrast to the European Union's recent AI Act. AI companies thus now have a guidebook to follow, or disregard, at their discretion.

"The industry is finding a lot of innovative ways to adopt AI for good, but also in malicious ways," says Chris Hughes, chief security advisor at Endor Labs and cyber innovation fellow at CISA. "This is a recognition that AI is here to stay, and we've got to try to get ahead of it, to avoid bolting security on later versus building it in now." darkreading.com


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