US: 41.2M Cases - 669K Dead - 31.5M Recovered
Worldwide: 222.9M Cases - 4.6M Dead - 199.4M Recovered

Former Senior Loss Prevention Executive
Know of any fallen LP exec? Let's remember & recognize.

Private Industry Security Guard Deaths: 306  
Law Enforcement Officer Deaths: 379
*Red indicates change in total deaths

U.S. hospitalizations more than doubled since last Labor Day
The number of covid-19 patients in hospitals in the United States has more than doubled since last Labor Day, a sobering statistic that illustrates how the delta variant has hampered progress in curbing the pandemic even as vaccines became widely available. There were 38,192 people in hospitals with the virus last Labor Day, on Sept. 7, 2020. This figure has skyrocketed to 99,270 by Sept 6. 2021 — a 160 percent increase.

As Florida appears to be turning the corner from a coronavirus surge, its residents are surveying the damage from more than 7,000 deaths reported since the Fourth of July and from feuds over masks and vaccines. washingtonpost.com

As a Delta Wave Peaks in Some States, Others Brace for What’s Next

Cold weather, return to school risk fueling Covid-19’s spread, public-health experts warn

The Delta surge appears to have peaked in Florida and other states that drove the most recent Covid-19 surge, offering some relief after the variant upended what many thought would be a more normal summer.

But cases and hospitalizations have been rising in many other states including Kentucky and North Carolina, data show, and public-health experts said the return of unvaccinated schoolchildren to classrooms, cold weather in Northern states and the holiday season could yet give the virus new opportunities to spread.

“I don’t know if we’ve peaked for all time, but the wave that was currently ongoing seems to have crested and is falling in some states but is rising in others,” said Andrew Noymer, an infectious disease epidemiologist and demographer at the University of California, Irvine.

Some states where cases surged most dramatically appear to be experiencing a break in the storm. Arkansas, Mississippi and Missouri have recently been adding new cases at a slower clip than in July. There are some good indications that things are starting to look better in Florida.”

Rising hospitalizations might have encouraged some people to take more precautions to avoid catching or spreading the disease, she and other researchers said.

Because Florida accounted for about one in five cases at one point during the most recent surge, its Covid-19 decline and declines in other hard-hit states are slowing the Delta surge nationally. Whether cases will start to trend lower soon nationally is difficult to project, in part due to lags in reporting after the Labor Day weekend. wsj.com

Retail's COVID Quandary
Stores grapple with mask use as cases rise again
With the delta variant fueling fears of a fourth COVID-19 surge in Michigan, weary operators of shops, restaurants and other retail businesses face a quandary: Do they reinstitute mask mandates — in line with advice from national, state and local health officials — and risk backlash from customers tired of restrictions as the pandemic reaches a year and a half?

Smaller stores, like Source Bookseller, might be more likely to require or request that patrons wear masks, while larger stores and chains might be more lenient, experts say. One business, Michigan First Credit Union, has taken a stance in the opposite direction, instead frowning on mask usage — unless the masks are clear.

Big chain retailers like Walmart and Home Depot are taking a middle approach: They're requiring masks for employees and unvaccinated customers, and encouraging mask usage for shoppers who have gotten the shots.

Jennifer Rook, vice president of communications and marketing for the Michigan Retailers Association, said businesses are concerned about backlash from customers.

"In the spirit of the safety of the employees, a number of retailers have said, 'You know if customers are walking in without masks on, let them,' " she said. "It's not worth getting into a confrontation about. Employees are still wearing masks."

Despite having varying stances on customer mask usage, many businesses are still requiring their employees to wear them. Among them is Home Depot. Walmart has taken a similar stance, requiring its employees to wear masks inside stores, clubs, fulfillment centers and distribution centers.

Rook said most of the 5,000 member businesses of the Michigan Retailers Association require masks of their employees. sunherald.com

Maskless Protesters Target Illinois Retailers
Maskless protesters enter stores, hold roadside protest against state’s mask mandate in Crystal Lake
Maskless protesters entered multiple stores in Crystal Lake on Saturday protesting the state’s mask mandate after holding a roadside protest. The rally was held on the corner of Route 14 and Main Street in Crystal Lake around 12 p.m. Saturday.

Dozens of demonstrators held signs and American flags in front of the Wendy’s protesting Illinois’ mask mandates for schools and businesses. Adults, and even children, held signs referencing “unmask the kids” and “unmask our children.”

A reporter with the Northwest Herald said on Twitter that a group of people, who were maskless, walked into several stores in Crystal Lake around 3:30 p.m. Saturday following the roadside protest.

The group entered Best Buy, Ross Dress for Less, TJ Maxx and Ulta Beauty to protest the state’s mask mandate, the Northwest Herald reported. The group of people entered Steinhafels, a furniture store, but employees kicked them out for refusing to wear a mask.

Employees at World Market refused to even let the protesters into their store and an argument took place at the entrance. lakemchenryscanner.com

In-Store Mask Rage Continues
Woman in supermarket recorded intentionally coughing without a mask, following other customers around Nebraska store
A woman was caught on camera appearing to deliberately cough inside a supermarket without a face mask on, in a city where an indoor mask mandate is in place.

It was originally posted to Reddit by user Jessabird earlier this week, who said she was with her kid at a supermarket in Nebraska when the woman allegedly approached them and asked why they were wearing masks.

In the video, the woman is seen walking towards the video recorder and coughing multiple times in their direction. You can watch the interaction in the tweet below, posted by @RoBeastRo, who tells KRON4 that the video was taken by his daughter’s mother.

She then starts coughing openly in the supermarket and says it’s her allergies, according to the video. Jessabird said an employee tried to intervene and the woman walked away, but Jessabird alleges that the woman followed her around the store afterward. kron4.com

The Delta Surge Has Shoppers Panic Buying Again
Costco brings back item limits in some stores amid COVID-19 surge
It appears that there may once again be purchase limits on some items sold at Costco as the delta COVID-19 variant continues to inundate the nation’s health care system. The company said on its website dedicated to updates on the ongoing pandemic that "some warehouses may have temporary item limits on select items."

Costco did not specify which locations would have limits and which items would be in limited stock. Costco did not immediately respond to a request for comment. In the early days of the pandemic, many consumers resorted to panic buying, causing long lines and mass shortages across many grocery stores and retail chains.

This prompted Costco to institute a priority store access policy on March 24, 2020 which gave first responders and health care workers priority during the shortages as supplies like masks, hand sanitizer and even toilet paper were becoming scarce. foxla.com

Delta & Rising COVID-19 Cases Delaying Workers Return
Office Occupancy Sputtered in August as Delta Variant Foiled Return-to-Work Hopes
Workers in big city business districts are ending the summer back home or at other remote locations, as momentum to return to the office in the spring and early summer mostly petered out in August.

Offices in 10 major U.S. cities were just 33.1% occupied in the week ending Aug. 25. That figure is a slight increase over the prior week but down from a 34.8% peak in late July.

In New York and San Francisco, the two worst markets among the 10 major metros tracked by Kastle, occupancy rates were a mere 22.3% and 19.7%, respectively. Both were slightly off their July highs. wsj.com

CA's Anti-Vaxxers Still Remain Hard Hit
Urban California taming virus surge, but areas with low vax rates still in danger
Coronavirus cases are showing new signs of slowing across many parts of the state.

Led by improvements in Southern California and the San Francisco Bay Area, while other areas of rural Northern California and the Central Valley continue to struggle with much higher rates of hospitalizations.

But the improvements are not even. While hospitalizations for the disease caused by the coronavirus have flattened across the most populated areas of California, regions where vaccination rates are relatively low remain hard hit by the virus. latimes.com

Coronavirus has derailed compensation plans - New Shift
Higher base salaries will replace signing bonuses in talent war, survey says

● Signing bonuses may be a flash-in-the-pan offering, according to a Salary.com survey released Aug. 12; while 50% of employers are offering signing bonuses in 2021, only 20% expect to be doing so by the end of the year.

● Higher overall salaries may stick around, however. Sixty-two percent of organizations surveyed said they planned to increase base salaries in the next six months in part to attract both salaried and hourly employees.

Coronavirus has derailed compensation plans since it pushed workers remote — or out of jobs. However, the tenor of these changes has shifted from the reduction or cancellation of raises early in the pandemic to a push for higher salaries overall in an attempt to keep workers on board. (Witness all the retailers raising wages to $15 an hour)

At the end of 2020, half of employers surveyed by Gallagher were expecting to decrease salary bumps, while 45% said they were suspending them entirely. Fast forward to mid-2021 and employers are offering signing bonuses to find applicants as the job market revives.

In the retail industry, employers are rolling out bonuses to try and keep workers on board as the industry struggles to maintain its workforce.

Overall, employers expect to hike pay increases in 2022, according to analysis from Willis Towers Watson, aligning with Salary.com’s findings. hrdive.com

Most CFOs face high turnover rate, labor shortages, PWC Survey
Eight out of nine CFOs face unusually high employee turnover, and 81% believe a shortage of labor will harm revenue growth.

Six out of 10 CFOs (61%) believe staff are quitting to take better compensation elsewhere, with fewer than half (45%) predicting that the high turnover rate is transitory.

Ninety-five percent in mid-August said it was difficult to find workers for vacant positions. By contrast, in the first quarter of the year, only 18% said so. cfodive.com

1 in 4 To Require Vaccines in Houston
Number of Houston-area businesses requiring COVID vaccines triples since June

Fabric stores see increase in customers buying mask supplies
 

Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade returns as in-person event
The balloons are back. Macy’s announced today that its annual Thanksgiving Day Parade will return as an in-person event this November. The parade, now in its 95th year, was a made-for-TV event rather than a live show last year because of COVID-19.

Now, Macy’s plans to take new safety measures for all directly involved, including mandatory vaccinations of participants and facial masks on most performers, in order to host the live event on Thursday, Nov. 25. As usual, the parade will include marching bands, musical performances, a host of floats with 80 to 100 handlers each and Santa Claus.

Macy's noted that the overall number of participants has decreased for social distancing by 10% to 20%, or 800 to 1,600.

Macy’s worked with the city and state of New York on the production of the parade, making sure the event follows current health guidelines. New York City will manage public viewing locations and plans to announce more details on certain areas of the parade route for spectators. crainsnewyork.com

Packaging Company Ex-Controller Sentenced to 24 Months Prison for Stealing $195,063.80
Suburban Pittsburgh resident has been sentenced in federal court to 24 months of incarceration, followed by 3 years of supervised release, on her conviction of wire fraud.

Victoria Mazur, 54, of McKim Drive, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, was employed as the Controller for Gateway Packaging Corporation, which was located in Export, PA. From December 2012 until December 2017, she issued herself and her husband a total of approximately 189 fraudulent credit card refunds, totaling $195,063.80, through the company’s point of sale terminal. Her thefts were so extensive, they caused the failure of the company, which is now out of business. justice.gov

Banning Chinese Surveillance Equipment
FCC’s proposed ban on Chinese camera and video surveillance components
Following the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) 2019 Section 889 and the ban of cameras and components made by certain Chinese companies, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has proposed a rule to ban products from Chinese electronics companies.

FCC Acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said, “We are taking direct action to exclude untrusted equipment and vendors from communications networks.”

According to the FCC, the proposed rule aims to guard against potential threats to the supply chain of equipment and services within the U.S. and seeks to protect communications networks. In addition to the proposal to ban Chinese-owned security equipment, the “Notice of Proposed Rulemaking and Notice of Inquiry” seeks comment on possible changes to the competitive bidding rules for auctions to protect national security.

Specifically, the FCC is seeking comment on prohibiting all future authorizations of communications equipment that has been determined to pose an unacceptable risk to U.S. national security, as identified on the Covered List published by the Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau. securitymagazine.com

Amazon's next innovation?
In the Senior Citizen Mecca

Amazon Fresh to Open Drive-Thru Grocery Store in Boca Raton, FL.
Never been fully leveraged by many in the grocery industry — until maybe now.

It’s not just Floridians; Americans have rediscovered their love of the drive-thru amid pandemic safety concerns. To wit, Taco Bell just announced plans for a four-lane drive-thru slated for summer 2022. Suddenly many retailers are re-evaluating drive-thrus as a convenient way for shoppers to feel safer visiting stores.

A proper drive-thru could cut labor costs and other expenses associated with pickup and may also offer a better customer experience, especially in a state with residents who love their drive-thrus. progressivegrocer.com

Dollar Stores Rank First in New Store Openings in 2021

Whole Foods Market Launching Amazon's Just Walk Out Tech in Two New Stores

Big Y Debuts Scan & Go Solution

Camping World to open 20 new stores by 2024

Gallup poll finds Americans' approval for labor unions rising


Quarterly Results
Casey's General Stores Q1 inside comp's up 8%, grocery & merch. comp's up 7%, prep. foods & bev. comp's up 10.8%, fuel comp's up 9%
 

Senior LP & AP Jobs Market

Director of AP & Safety job posted for Goodwill of Orange County California in Santa Ana, CA
The Director of Asset Protection and Safety develops, trains, implements, and ensures compliance to policies and procedures throughout the business, conducts investigations on behalf of the Corporation, and leads the overall safety program for the company. Position is also responsible for the security and safety of the company's employees, program participants, and property through sound security practices and procedures. indeed.com

Sr Manager Loss Prevention ORC job posted for Ulta Beauty in Bolingbrook, IL
The Senior Manager, Loss Prevention Organized Retail Crime (ORC), under the direction of the Director, ORC, is be responsible for leading and inspiring a team of Organized Retail Crime Mangers who support Organized Retail Crime functions for the organization. The Senior Manager Loss Prevention (ORC) works closely with various internal and external business partners. careers.ulta.com