Target Saw 120% Increase in Theft in First Five Months of 2023
Target facing ‘unacceptable amount’ of retail theft and ORC, CEO says
Target Corp. CEO Brian Cornell says that the company is facing an “unacceptable amount” of retail theft and organized retail crime.

Speaking on the conference call to discuss Target’s second-quarter results, Cornell reiterated his previous comments about inventory “shrink,” or losses, caused by theft and organized retail crime. “Our team continues to face an unacceptable amount of retail theft and organized retail crime,” he said. “Shrink remains consistent with our expectations but well above the sustainable level where we expect to operate over time, and unfortunately, safety incidents associated with theft are moving in the wrong direction.”

Cornell highlighted safety threats that Target employees are facing, saying that during the first five months of 2023, Target stores saw a 120% increase in theft involving violence or threats of violence.

Target has experienced more than a percentage point of cumulative profit pressure from higher shrink since 2019, he said.

Also speaking on the conference call, Target’s chief financial officer, Michael Fiddelke, discussed the company’s efforts to tackle the problem. “We’re working hard both inside our stores and with government and community partners to achieve lower loss rates over time, and our long-run expectation is that shrink rates will moderate from today’s unsustainable levels. But so far, we’ve only seen indications that loss rates might soon be reaching a plateau but have not yet seen evidence that loss rates will begin to come down,” he said.

Theft and organized retail crime have increasingly become a key driver of inventory shrink in recent years. Earlier this week, Home Depot Inc. discussed the ongoing “battle in retail” related to shrink. However, the home-improvement retailer said it is hopeful that a new law -- the INFORM Act -- will aid efforts to tackle a problem that costs the sector billions of dollars a year. marketwatch.com  themessenger.com


VF Corp. VP of LP Urges People To Take Theft Seriously
Retail theft: The narrative that 'it's not a big deal' needs to change, VF Corp. exec
Marty Andrews, VF Corporation (VFC) Vice President of Loss Prevention, joins Yahoo Finance Live to discuss the impact of retail theft on companies as part of the weekly series "Retail Evolution: The New Era."

"We need to educate folks on what organized retail crime actually is, and these are groups going into stores, stealing massive amounts of quantities of merchandise in various stores, day in and day out," Andrews says, defining the difference between simple shoplifting and organized retail theft. "That thought process of 'these are big organizations and they're insured and it's not a big deal,' we need to change that narrative."

Andrews pushes the need for law enforcement's involvement, citing viral incidents of retail crime sprees that have seen upwards of $100,000 in losses in a single day, targeting not just retail locations but distribution warehouses as well.

"We want to keep people safe, first and foremost," Andrews states. "And we have to continually coach on de-escalation and making sure that we're not putting our people in harm's way." finance.yahoo.com


Protecting Retail Workers Who Confront Shoplifters
NY lawmaker wants retail workers who try to stop shoplifters protected from retaliation
Retail workers in New York who try to stop shoplifters would not be at risk of losing their jobs or being punished by their bosses under legislation proposed by a Long Island state lawmaker.

Many retail companies have told workers to avoid confrontations with thieves over liability and safety concerns. Adding insult to injury, some employees who tried to stop thieves from stealing have been fired or disciplined.

Enough is enough, said Assemblyman Michael Fitzpatrick (R-Smithtown).

His bill would protect employees from retaliation by an employer if they confront or attempt to confront an individual to prevent theft.

“The current explosion in retail theft, which shows no signs of subsiding. The unfortunate outcome has resulted in job loss for many employees who react to these crimes by intervening in an attempt to stop these criminals,” Fitzpatrick said in the memo explaining his anti-retaliation/jobs protection bill.

He said the measure does not advocate employee interactions with shoplifters, and agreed that it’s “common sense” for stores to have trained security personnel to handle lawbreakers.

But neither should workers be fired or punished for trying to stop criminals from raiding their stores, he said.

In 2022, more than 63,000 reports for retail theft were made — a 45% jump from 2021 when just over 43,000 complaints were recorded. In 2019, the tally was just under 38,000. It’s so bad in Midtown, the 34th Street Partnership has hired its own K-9 units to deter the thieves. nypost.com


California: The ORC Epicenter of America?
Organized retail crime 'particularly acute' in California, industry expert says
Organized retail crime is a burgeoning issue impacting retailers nationwide. However, the incidents in California are "particularly acute," according to Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA) President Brian Dodge.

"As it relates to crime and organized retail crime, California is truly in a league of its own," Dodge told FOX Business.

Dodge specifically referenced policy decisions California has made in recent years that he said made it easier for criminals to avoid prosecution and recruit boosters, a term for individuals who steal goods and merchandise as part of a bigger operation.

Under California law, incidents of shoplifting where the value of what's taken is under $950 are prosecuted as a misdemeanor, not a felony. Misdemeanors are "punishable by imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding six months, or by fine not exceeding one thousand dollars ($1,000), or by both."

In order to crack down on this issue, criminals, who are often tied to more nefarious crimes, need to be "prosecuted aggressively," according to Dodge. He added that it's the most important starting point in tackling this issue in California and around the country.

The good news is that progress is being made to combat these operations, particularly when it comes to reselling the goods online.  The RILA was a major leader in getting the Integrity, Notification, and Fairness in Online Retail Marketplaces for Consumers Act — or the INFORM Consumers Act — passed in December, according to Dodge.

On top of these efforts, more than a dozen state attorneys general have launched organized retail crime task forces to coordinate investigations between retailers and prosecutors.

Last year, Homeland Security Investigations also launched Operation Boiling Point, which is "focused on combating organized theft groups through the targeting of domestic and transnational criminal organizations profiting from organized retail crime."  foxbusiness.com


Police Chief Puts Walgreens on the Hot Seat Over Crime & Safety
Albuquerque, NM: APD sends letter about safety, security to Walgreens after recent incidents
Albuquerque police released a video of teens stealing alcohol at a Walgreens before a deadly shooting over a stolen car. They also sent a letter to the store about security concerns. Albuquerque Police Department (APD) shared this surveillance video showing two juveniles carrying bottles of booze out of a west side Walgreens before driving around town in a stolen car. Investigators claimed shortly after that, those same teens encountered the car’s owner, Sydney Wilson, near Central and Coors. She had tracked her car down with the GPS on her phone. Police said the teens crashed the car after she confronted them, and they tried to flee on foot. However, police claimed one of them, 13-year-old Marcos Barela, shot and killed Wilson. He’s now charged with murder.

This incident, coupled with another viral shoplifting case at a different Walgreens, prompted APD to send a letter to the drugstore and urge them to make major changes to their security. APD Chief Harold Medina gave a public warning to the chain store on August 4, 2023. “Walgreens has to take ownership for their store, for their product, and they have to develop [a] process which helps ensure that their alcohol is not being stolen and is not compounding to a community issue or problems surrounding their locations,” he said at the time. About 10 days later on August 14, he published a letter to the company’s district offices.

According to the letter, since January 2022, APD has responded to 1,000 calls for service at just five Walgreens along the Central Avenue corridor. It said the location on Eubank has seen a 20% increase in calls for service in the last six months. In the letter, APD said these calls for service alone cost taxpayers $125,000. “It is not the responsibility of the Albuquerque Police Department and the taxpayers of the City of Albuquerque to put an officer at every single Walgreens that sells alcohol,” Chief Medina said at an August 4 press conference.  krqe.com


Maui Suffering from Crime & Looting in Wildfire Aftermath
Desperate residents are looting businesses and robbing people at gunpoint
Desperate survivors in Lahaina are robbing people at gunpoint as they wait for food and shelter in the aftermath of the Maui wildfires, Hawaiian locals said.

"There's some police presence. There's some small military presence, but at night people are being robbed at gunpoint," co-owner of a Lāhainā bar called The Dirty Monkey, Matt Robb, told Business Insider.

Robb added: "People are raped and pillaged. I mean, they're going through houses — and then by day it's hunky-dory. So where is the support? I don't think our government and our leaders, at this point, know how to handle this or what to do."

Owner of restaurant Coconut Caboose Jeremy Aganos, one of the businesses that survived the fires, told KITV it is "utter chaos" for those seeking aid. His business was attacked by looters, he said.

Another Lahaina resident, Barrett Procell, told the news station he and his wife are now homeless and wearing donated clothes. He said he understands the desperate measures some Lahaina survivors are taking.

"When your children are here starving after almost burning to death and the police won’t let people drive in to give you necessities, you may turn to desperate measures. It is unfortunate people are turning to looting right now, but it’s about helping them and not villainizing them," he said.

One user of X, formerly Twitter, wrote Sunday: "Looting happening in Lahaina town. The only thing left from my uncles house was a fireproof safe. Family went to check on the property yesterday only to find the safe has been pried open the last of their possessions gone." Another user wrote Friday that "looting is out of control."  fox10phoenix.com


Surge in Oakland Crime Sparks Controversy: Crime Up 28% Over LY
Recall effort aimed at unseating Progressive Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price moves closer to gathering signatures

The recall effort formed barely six months into Price’s tenure

OAKLAND — A group calling itself “Save Alameda for Everyone: Recall Pamela Price” moved a step closer to beginning a county-wide, signature-gathering effort aimed at unseating the county’s top prosecutor.

The committee, which goes by the acronym SAFE, filed a notice of intent to circulate a recall petition with the county’s registrar of voters on Tuesday, according to Carl Chan, a recall leader and the government affairs chair of the Oakland Chinatown Chamber of Commerce.

“Many people don’t feel safe,” said Chan, in a press conference outside of the Rene C. Davidson Courthouse in downtown Oakland. “We are not doing it just for victims’ families — we are doing it for everyone in Alameda County. We are recalling because people have to be accountable for their jobs.”

The group’s notice on Tuesday framed the effort as a “broad coalition of Alameda County residents, business owners, victims, victims’ families and concerned citizens.” It alleged that Price was “failing” voters in her job of prosecuting people and keeping residents safe.

Her justice reform efforts have been met with resistance. Dozens of prosecutors from her office have quit or been placed on leave, some writing and leaking resignations letters that offered pointed criticisms of Price, who brushed off concerns over office turnover in an interview. mercurynews.com


Flash mob robberies: Nike store in East LA targeted by thieves weekly, LASD says

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine announces 'surge initiative' to help combat crime in Cleveland

'60 minutes' Airs Segment on eBay 'Terror Campaign'
eBay investigation continues after couple became the target of harassment, stalking by eBay employees
In 2022, users sold almost $74 billion worth of goods through eBay. But last winter, buried in an otherwise dull annual financial disclosure—a note on page 105 hinted at a scandal inside the Silicon Valley giant.

It refers to an inquiry from the U.S. Attorney about the stalking and harassment of the editor and publisher of an online newsletter at the hands of eBay employees.

David Steiner and his wife, Ina Steiner, loved eBay so much they started a publication to help people who sell stuff on the auction site, and then, found themselves the focus of a terror campaign.

Most of their 600,000 readers are sellers on eBay, Amazon and Etsy, but the Steiners say e-commerce executives also read Ina's articles closely Court records in the case show how the top eBay executives became enraged by the Steiners' newsletter and readers who posted comments criticizing the company on their site, which eBay viewed as a threat to its business.

The scheme was hatched in August 2019 after Ina Steiner wrote a story about a lawsuit brought by eBay accusing Amazon of poaching its sellers. A half-hour after the article was published, then-CEO Devin Wenig sent another top eBay executive a message saying: "If you are ever going to take her down ... now is the time," according to court documents.

Soon, Ina Steiner began receiving harassing and sometimes threatening Twitter messages. Bizarre anonymous packages started arriving at the couple's home, including a box of live spiders, a funeral wreath and a book about surviving the loss of a spouse.

Authorities portrayed Baugh as the mastermind of the scheme and said he directed eBay employees to use prepaid debit cards, disguises and overseas email accounts to hide the company's involvement.  cbsnews.com

Statements provided by eBay and former CEO Devin Wenig are available here.

Watch the full eBay segment on '60 Minutes' here

Click here to read the full story, including the list of ex-eBay Security executives involved, pleas, sentences & awaiting sentencing + previous coverage.


Bay Area Exodus Sending People to Surprising Destination: Seattle
Same problems - drugs, crime, homelessness - different location?

California exodus: Top destination for Bay Area transplants isn’t in Texas or Florida. It’s … Seattle?

They’re both home to Big Tech, liberal politics and natural beauty, but Seattle’s big lure: relatively cheaper housing

In recent years, red states have relished the chance to take a deep dig at dark blue California: The Golden State is hemorrhaging residents, and many are moving to the low-tax Republican havens of Texas, Arizona and Florida.

But it turns out the biggest draw for Bay Area transplants is in an entirely different direction. Try our rainy neighbor to the north: Seattle.

King County, Washington, topped the IRS migration list of out-of-state relocation destinations for people leaving four of the five core Bay Area counties in 2021: Alameda, San Francisco, San Mateo and Santa Clara.

More than 7,600 Bay Area residents moved to Seattle in the thick of the COVID pandemic, which set off a remote-work revolution that freed employees from being bound to abodes near the office.

“I think of Seattle as Silicon Valley with the same stuff. I mean, similarly fraught — rising prices and a lot of crowding,” Hancock said. “So people are saying, ‘I’ve had it. I’ve had it with the Bay Area. I’ve had it with San Francisco. I can’t deal with any more homelessness. I’m tired of seeing needles and feces on the street.’ Well, that’s all up in Seattle as well. So that’s why I’m surprised.” mercurynews.com


Another San Francisco Retailer Could Ditch the City
Iconic San Francisco store Gump’s warns it could close
John Chachas, who acquired Gump's following a Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2018, paid for ad space in the print edition of Sunday's San Francisco Chronicle in which he ran an open letter to California Governor Newsom, San Francisco Mayor London Breed and the city’s Board of Supervisors calling on them to take action regarding the worsening state of the city’s downtown area.

"Gump's has been a San Francisco icon for more than 165 years," Chachas wrote in the ad. "Today, as we prepare for our 166th holiday season at 250 Post Street, we fear this may be our last because of the profound erosion of this city's conditions."

In the letter, Chachas said that the ramifications of Covid policies advising people to abandon their offices are only beginning to be understood.

“Equally devastating have been a litany of destructive San Francisco strategies, including allowing the homeless to occupy our sidewalks, to openly distribute and use illegal drugs, to harass the public and to defile the city’s streets,” he wrote.

If Gump’s were to close, it would be the latest in a lineup of retailers that included Whole Foods Market, Anthropologie, Gap and Saks Off 5th who have abandoned downtown San Francisco. In June, mall operator Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield stopped making payments on its $558 million loan on Westfield San Francisco Centre and would transfer ownership to its lender. The company cited “challenging “challenging operating conditions in downtown San Francisco, which have led to declines in sales, occupancy and foot traffic.” chainstoreage.com


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Permitting Delays 'Getting Worst' For New Restaurants With Drive-Thrus
Wendy's wants to open new locations, if it can only get the permits
The burger chain cited “substantial permitting delays in the U.S.,” which it says has started to impact timelines for new unit openings.

The problem? It just can’t get the permits and it's putting a crimp on its expansion plans. Wendy’s said those delays are getting worse.

“We continue to navigate substantial permitting delays in the U.S., which have intensified and are pressuring our new restaurant opening timelines,” CEO Todd Penegor told analysts on Wednesday.

Wendy’s and other restaurant chains like Papa Johns, which like Wendy’s is eager for more new unit growth, earlier this month lowered its expectations for restaurant development, citing permitting delays in North America.

The permitting delays are coming amid skepticism of new restaurants with drive-thrus but are mostly due to workforce shortages at many communities across the country. restaurantbusinessonline.com


CEO Defends Target's Pride Month Response
Target acknowledges Pride month controversy in latest earnings report
Target CEO Brian Cornell acknowledged that a strong negative reaction to this year’s Pride month merchandise assortment affected revenue. The company defended its response to the controversy, which included removing and repositioning merchandise, saying it sought to maintain the safety of its in-store team members in the face of threats and violence.

“So, to protect the team in the face of these threatening circumstances, we quickly made changes, including the removal of items that were the center of the most significant confrontational behavior,” Cornell said. “Pride is one of many heritage moments that are important to our guests and our team, and we’ll continue to support these moments in the future.” retaildive.com


DOJ Investigates Visa Merchant Practices
Visa is reportedly the target of a Department of Justice (DOJ) probe into its tokenization practices.

The DOJ’s interest in Visa is part of a long-running investigation, Bloomberg reported Wednesday (Aug. 16).

Officials are looking into Visa’s policy of charging more to merchants who don’t use its tokenization system, which protects cardholder information by swapping card numbers for tokens that can only be used with specific devices and merchants, the report said.

The news comes months after Visa revealed it was cooperating with an investigation by the DOJ into its debit card practices. pymnts.com


Sioux City, IA: Customers were in for a surprise after a snake was found in a Target shopping cart Saturday in Sioux City
The Sioux City Police Department told KCAU 9 that animal control was sent to Target on Sunnybrook Drive around 11:30 a.m. after a snake was found in a shopping cart. The snake was found in a cart in one of the cart corrals and wasn’t noticed until brought inside the store. The snake was a Columbian red boa. It measured about 6-feet long. Animal control believes the snake was placed in the cart intentionally.  siouxlandproud.com


Patient harmed, 1,800 doses of controlled drugs lost at CVS pharmacy, regulator says

How early is holiday shopping starting this year?