Shoplifter extortion case against Walmart, other retailers is dismissed
6 Retailers Cleared With Prejudice in Restorative Justice Case
Judge Leaves Door Open for DA
A federal judge dismissed a racketeering lawsuit accusing Walmart Inc and six other retailers of extortion by forcing accused shoplifters to take costly "restorative justice" classes or else be reported to the police.

In a decision late on Friday, U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh in San Jose, California, found no proof of a nationwide conspiracy to steer accused shoplifters into paying $400 up front or $500 in installments for the classes from Utah-based Corrective Education Co, and admitting guilt, to avoid prosecution.

Koh said the three plaintiffs, who were accused in 2017 of shoplifting from Walmarts in Florida, Georgia and Texas, did not show that the retailers had specific knowledge of a conspiracy.

She said it did not matter that the retailers might use Corrective Education's database to conduct background checks before deciding to offer the six-to-eight-hour online classes, a portion of whose costs the plaintiffs said was reimbursed to retailers.

"The only alleged commonality each of the defendants have with one another is CEC, whom plaintiffs have chosen not to sue," Koh wrote. "That is not enough to allege one single nationwide conspiracy."

Koh also said she lacked jurisdiction over most defendants in the proposed class action because they did not have enough ties to California, and said the plaintiffs lacked standing to sue retailers that did not harm them.

She gave the plaintiffs 30 days to amend their claims against Walmart, Corrective Education's founders and some of its employees and directors.

Claims against Bloomingdale's, Burlington Coat Factory, Kroger Co, 99 Cents Only, Save Mart and Sportsman's Warehouse were dismissed with prejudice, meaning they cannot be brought again.

Walmart suspended its use of Corrective Education's classes in December 2017, the Wall Street Journal said that month.

The case is Doe et al v Walmart Inc et al, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, No. 18-02125. reuters.com

Walmart Spending Half a Billion on Improving Security - Gates Are 1 of Many Parts
Walmart Installs Security Gates At Thomasville Store
The company installed security gates at a store in Thomasville. Walmart says they're investing half a billion dollars over the next three years on improving security nationwide. The new gates are a part of it.

Walmart says the gates help prevent theft, but you won't see them everywhere.

Store representatives say they're rolling out the new gates in 1,300 stores this year. And Thomasville is the only known location in the Triad that's using them so far. wfmynews2.com

Genetec Awarded Mercury Security Platinum Premier Status
On-going commitment to innovative access control integrations earns Genetec highest possible partner status from Mercury Security

Genetec Inc. (“Genetec”), a leading technology provider of unified security, public safety, operations, and business intelligence solutions announced that Mercury Security part of HID Global, the global leader in OEM access control technology, awarded Genetec the highest level in their partner program, Platinum Premier. The Platinum Premier status recognizes Mercury's select business partners who demonstrate continued market growth, strong integration with Mercury solutions, and shared interest in the open architecture approach to access control.

"As a Mercury Security partner and reseller since 2014, we take pride in having achieved Platinum Premier status in just a few short years. Mercury is a key partner in the development of our access control strategy as we are aligned in our efforts to provide innovative and cyber-secure access control solutions based on an open architecture," said Georges Tannous, Director of Strategic Alliances at Genetec.

According to the 2017-2018 Access Control Intelligence Database by IHS, Genetec has rapidly risen to become one of the leading developers of access control software with a top-5 ranking in the Americas and a stronger global market share growth. genetec.com

Amazon Is Reconsidering Plan to Put Campus in New York
Executives re-evaluate $2.5 billion investment in face of opposition from local officials

The discussions at Amazon have caused leading government officials in New York who support the project to worry that Amazon may abandon its plan to bring 25,000 jobs to Long Island City and $2.5 billion in investment, according to a government official.

Amazon executives are deliberating whether to delay some of the initial phase of investments to get the project started, according to one of the people familiar with the discussions. The internal talks haven’t progressed to deciding whether to relocate future jobs or the campus, this person said.  wsj.com

Corporate Restructure - AP Job Losses
TCC, Verizon Premium Wireless Retailer Cuts 7 AP Execs & Director
This 550 stores, $2B retailer who had built a 10 member Asset Protection team since 2015 cut 7 AP positions regretfully, in a corporate restructuring along with number of other executives. Leaving 1 AP manager and 2 investigators for 550 locations. Let's see if we can help any of those displaced.

Aaron Hancart, the Director, who also had daily management responsibility over both field ops and Asset Protection, recently sat in on the Sensormatic sponsored LPRC IMPACT episode this past October.

Rent-A-Center Organizational Restructure Impacts 8 AP Jobs

"Just Walk Out"
Walmart Leak - Major Theft With Scan & Go
Is Scan-and-Go the Future of Retail?
A “just walk out” experience is why lots of consumers are gravitating toward Amazon Go—and why many other retailers, including Macy’s and Kroger, have come up with similar solutions.

One Big Roadblock: Consumer Theft

In May 2018, Walmart shelved Scan & Go—its cashierless checkout technology. The reason it gave back then? Low adoption rates. But a recent report from Business Insider paints a very different picture.

"You think that the theft is bad on self-checkouts? Wait until you try Scan & Go, where nobody is watching the customers out in the aisles," former Walmart employee Joel Larson, who spearheaded that initiative, told Business Insider.  emarketer.com

Editor's Note: Back then we surmised theft was the real issue behind Walmart's pulling the plug on it. As we've heard from one retail source close to another such roll-out with another retailer that they were seeing a 30% theft problem. We're reporting exactly what we heard from a very credible source.

Ex-Walmart Exec Says Theft Was Major Reason Walmart Killed Scan & Go Last May 18th
A former Walmart executive said shopper theft was a major reason why the company killed Scan & Go, a cashierless-checkout technology, several months after expanding it to more than 100 stores.

You think that the theft is bad on self-checkouts? Wait until you try Scan & Go, where nobody is watching the customers out in the aisles," said Joel Larson, who was Walmart's head of checkout innovation until October.

A customer tried to leave a Walmart store with a cart filled with about 100 items, only 40 of which were scanned with Scan & Go, Larson said.

Larson recalled a Walmart executive joking about issues with Scan & Go at a company town-hall meeting last summer.

"We're just going to call the program 'Go' because the customers can't seem to 'Scan' anything,'" the executive said, according to Larson's recollection.

In response to this story, Walmart referred Business Insider to a statement the company issued when the program ended.

"In our efforts to minimize friction points, we found that the program created some of its own such as receipt checks, weighted produce, and un-bagged merchandise resulting from using the program," Walmart said. "Additionally, low adoption played a role in the removal of the program." businessinsider.com

Biggest Trend Starting to Dominate Retail News
Retailers are shopping for ways to get rid of checkout lines
Cashier-less stores could save customers time, but the software that makes it possible raises privacy issues. 

A year after Amazon opened its first cashier-less store, startups and retailers are racing to get similar technology in stores throughout the world, letting shoppers buy groceries without waiting in line.

From cameras and sensors, the stores will know when shoppers pick up a product and put it down, and can send them a discount to tempt them to buy it. Merchants will be able to create more space for merchandise, better track when shelves need replenishing and draw more business from the hordes of customers who detest long lines.

But the monitoring system underlying cashier-less technology is bound to raise new privacy issues and worries about customer data falling into the wrong hands, especially if stores deploy facial recognition software in the omnipresent cameras watching shoppers. startribune.com

'Apology not accepted': Celebrities Call For Gucci boycott over 'blackface' sweater
Spike Lee Boycotts Gucci & Prada, Says 'They Don't Have a Clue' About Racism
Lee - "Hire Some Black Designers"
Last week, Gucci apologized for a turtleneck sweater many said resembled blackface. But rapper T.I. said he’s not accepting the apology and is calling for a boycott instead. T.I. isn’t the only celebrity who’s condemned Gucci. Soulja Boy, Waka Flocka, Spike Lee, and Russell Simmons have, too.

Last Wednesday, Gucci responded to the initial backlash about the sweater, which they pulled, writing, “We consider diversity to be a fundamental value to be fully upheld, respected, and at the forefront of every decision we make.” They haven't responded to the boycott.

The Oscar-nominated director made the announcement via Instagram on Friday in light of the labels' blackface controversies. Prada received backlash less than two months ago for an accessories collection that featured a dark-colored monkey with bright red, oversized lips as a figurine, a racist caricature popularized during the Jim Crow era. Prada issued an apology and eventually pulled the design. complex.com ajc.com

Another Walmart Has Been Accused of Locking Up Hair Products Marketed to Black Women
A Long Island woman took to Facebook to call out the discriminatory display.

It has happened before in California and in several Virginia towns — and those are just the widely-reported cases. Multiple Walmart stores have been accused of putting hair-care products marketed to black shoppers in locked cabinets while other hair products are available to customers without requiring an employee's key. And now, word has gotten out that yet another Walmart location — this time in Long Island, New York — is doing the very same thing. And like the other instances, photographic proof has been shared on social media.

According to local news outlet Riverhead Local, Fulford had to wait 10 minutes before a store associate arrived with a key, but it wasn't the wait that upset Fulford; it was the implication that black shoppers are more likely to steal.

In addition to Fulford's post being shared numerous times, Riverhead Local reports that Fulford met with the town councilmember who co-chairs the anti-bias task force, and the president of the NAACP's Eastern Long Island branch said the organization would look into the complaint.

Fulford knew she was doing the right thing by bringing attention to the matter, and she was thrilled to learn that, after a few days, the Riverhead Walmart stopped locking up the products in question.

Riverheard wasn't the first store to be called out on such questionable determinations. In 2016, three Walmart stores in Virginia were accused of adding extra security packaging on hair-care products marketed to black customers. And in 2018, a California woman sued Walmart for discrimination after finding these products locked in a glass cabinet.  allure.com

Reselling $2.5M in Diabetic Test Strips Over 11 Yrs.
Rochester, N.Y. CVS Senior Assistant Purchasing Associate
Buys $2.5M Medical Products & Diabetic Test Strips & Resells It
Since February 2007 Antonio Rivera, 35, of Williamsville, NY, routinely purchased diabetic test strips in excessive amounts, well over the need for the Humboldt location. The audit could not account for 20,203 boxes purchased by Rivera, for a total financial loss of approximately $2,535,307.62.

In July, 2018, CVS's internal systems red flagged the purchasing of diabetic test strips at the Humboldt CVS. The defendant ordered the excessive amounts of diabetic test strips and then intercepted the shipments once they arrived. He then sold the stolen product to third party purchasers identified as National Medical Management and HMF Distributing Inc. The charges carry a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. justice.gov

CEO Marvin Ellison takes Lowe’s back to basics
When Marvin Ellison took the helm at Lowe’s last summer — after competing with the company for over a decade as an executive at The Home Depot — his work was cut out for him. “We had to make some changes,” he said during a fireside chat on stage at NRF 2019: Retail’s Big Show, “and had to make them quickly.” Within the first six months, Ellison hired retail leaders in merchandising, store operations, supply chain and IT to help him “modernize and transform” the home improvement giant. “We’re on a journey not to be a good company,” Ellison said, “but a great company.”

The three-step transformation plan started with retail’s fundamentals. Now the focus is back on the foundation: Modern systems for merchandising, a sturdy supply chain and in-store systems that help associates serve customers better.

Step two of Ellison’s long-term plan is sustainable growth by effectively serving the needs of various customers within the same framework:

The final step in Ellison’s plan is aggressively pursuing that untapped $700 billion. “Customers respond well to innovation,” Ellison said — Lowe’s has its eye on trends like battery-powered tech and appliances that double as communication hubs, like smart refrigerators that update grocery lists. “Customer expectations remain high,” he said, “[and] competition is fierce.” nrf.com

Does Payless Join the Death List?
Payless Shoe Source Preps For 2nd Chapter 11 After closing 400 Stores Last Time
Payless is looking for buyers for its real estate. Without buyers, the company may have to close down a majority if not all of its 2,700 stores. wthr.com

Chicago PD Launches ‘Intelligence Hub’
Chicago Police in the Logan Square neighborhood now have a Strategic Decision Support Center in their district.

The center will serve as a dedicated intelligence hub where police can monitor developments in crime, including gang conflicts, in real time, says a news report.

The center will also allow police to better predict where crimes may occur and respond more quickly to gunfire, the report says. As of year’s end, the Chicago Police Department had expanded the number of districts that have such centers.  securitymagazine.com

Director of Global Security, Safety, and Business Continuity Posted for CDW in Vernon Hills, IL
This role reports directly to the Chief Human Resource Officer. The Director of Global Security, Safety, and Business Continuity is responsible for assessing and managing security risks for all CDW locations. This role formulates strategy, policy, and related initiatives to protect human, financial, and physical assets of CDW including all aspects of security, safety, and business continuity. cdwjobs.com

A nearly $16 billion international provider of IT solutions and services with 8,000 coworkers serving 250,000 customers. cdwjobs.com

New Dir. Job for the Industry - AP Job Growth
Director, Asset Protection for Smile Direct Club in Dallas, TX - Start Up Program?
Reporting to the Senior Director of Retail Operations, Director of Asset Protection provides loss prevention leadership and investigation service to the Retail Operations Team. This role is a key member of the Operation’s organization, working with HQ and various teams across the United States and Canada. icims.com Editor's Note: Sounds like a new one person department? But a great opportunity.

The Company is the first digital brand for straightening your smile, created after the realization that recent trends in 3D printing and telehealth could bring about disruptive change to the invisible aligner market by matching licensed professionals, a quality clear-aligner product, and customers together.

Founded in 2014, SmileDirectClub now represents 95% of the doctor-directed at-home invisible aligner industry. We have grown to more than 2,500 employees with 100 SmileShop locations and counting.

SmileDirectClub is backed by Camelot Venture Group. If you’ve heard of 1-800-CONTACTS, Quicken Loans, Sharper Image or Fathead, then you’ve heard of Camelot. smiledirectclub.com

Director of Asset Protection and Safety Posted for Goodwill Industries of
Mid-Michigan, Flint, MI
Responsible for ensuring that the agency's assets are secure. Develops, implements and manages programs, procedures, systems and processes affecting the safety of employees and the protection of agency assets. applytojob.com

Goodwill Industries of Mid-Michigan serves over 700 clients annually. We operate 17 retail stores, 8 donation centers and 1 outlet center in 10 Mid-Michigan counties, which fund our employment training and other programs to put people to work. goodwillmidmichigan.org
 

Last week's #1 article --

A glimpse into Amazon's Global Security Operations Centre (GSOC)
The GSOC professional team is continuously supporting my team in delivering high quality Security and Loss Prevention services to our Amazon EMEA internal customers, ensuring the security and safety of our associates, our operations continuity whilst keeping our promise to our customers. linkedin.com

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