'Fight Retail Crime Day' Webinar
Register: Fight Retail Crime Day

Organized retail crime continues to negatively impact the economy, businesses and communities across the country.

Organized retail crime continues to negatively impact the economy, businesses and communities across the country. Join NRF on Fight Retail Crime Day, Oct. 24, at 1 p.m. for a one-hour overview on the current state of retail crime. Learn how to advocate for solutions across all levels of government to combat ORC and what else you can do to help curb the threat of these dangerous crimes.

Attendees will hear from loss prevention leaders including American Eagle Outfitter Chief Security Officer and NRF LP Council Chair Scott McBride; Sensormatic President Tony D’Onofrio; NRF Vice President of Asset Protection and Retail Operations David Johnston; NRF Vice President of Supply Chain and Customs Policy Jonathan Gold; NRF Vice President of Government Relations and Political Affairs Jason Straczewski; and NRF Senior Director of Grassroots Advocacy Meghan Cruz.

Let’s end retail crime, together.

Click here to register


Theft & Larceny Happen Every 3.6 Minutes in Washington State
Leaders discuss organized retail theft at King County Public Safety Summit
Theft and larceny happen every 3.6 minutes in Washington, according to a King County Police Chiefs study conducted in 2023.

The crime rings escalating Washington’s organized retail theft are so thorough, that they can end up forcing a store to move locations or even go out of business.

Washington was ranked as the state most impacted by organized retail theft, causing billions of dollars in losses. To reduce the threat of this issue increasing, regional leaders, law enforcement, mayors, business owners, organizations, and prosecutors gathered to discuss solutions.

Wednesday was the first ever King County Public Safety Summit on Organized Retail Crime. The event, held in Redmond, focused on creating a long-term public-private partnership to prevent, deter, and hold accountable the thieves involved in organized retail crime in King County. The goal is to expand this partnership statewide.

To allow accessible collaboration, the new Organized Retail Crime Resource Hub was also launched. It’s a website for businesses and law enforcement to offer resources concerning retail theft. The resource hub is designed to help public and private entities work together more efficiently and effectively across jurisdictional boundaries. This will help ensure criminal thefts are detected before thieves strike again.

The Retail Industry Leaders Association estimates Washington experienced nearly $3 billion in retail theft in 2021, the second highest in the nation per capita.

Retail theft and commercial burglaries were one of the top two public safety concerns facing a majority of jurisdictions in King County, according to a King County Police Chiefs study conducted in 2024. fox13seattle.com  komonews.com


Another Retailer Closing Store Over Surging Theft
Natural Grocers closing Denver store due to “theft & safety issues”
Natural Grocers is permanently closing its store at Colfax Avenue and Washington Street on Oct. 31.

The grocery chain, which is based in Lakewood, announced on Wednesday that the downtown Denver store will be closed due to "retail theft and safety issues impacting the store's performance."

It's one of 46 Natural Grocers stores around Colorado.

"Despite our investment in security and loss prevention strategies over the years, these factors have continued to challenge our ability to operate our store safely and sustainably, and we have made the difficult decision to close our doors at this location," said Kemper Isely, the company's co-president, in a news release.

The chain is "committed" to its customers at its six other Denver stores, the release said. If affected workers can't get a transfer to another store, they'll receive severance pay and transition health benefits. Closing sales start at the Colfax location on Friday, with 10 percent storewide discounts. denverite.com


CA's ORC Law Is Now Permanent
Governor Gavin Newsom Signs Five LADA-Sponsored Public Safety Bills Into Law

California’s organized retail theft law is now permanent under LADA-sponsored bill

Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón announced today that California Governor Gavin Newsom signed five LADA-sponsored bills into law during the 2024 legislative session. The laws are designed to prevent gun violence in incidents of domestic violence, stalking, or elder abuse; expressly criminalize AI revenge porn and AI child pornography; and protect kids and adults from sexually explicit deepfakes on social media.

In August, the Governor signed into law AB 1802, a LADA-sponsored bill to combat organized retail theft. AB 1802 eliminates the sunset clause on California’s Organized Retail Theft statute, ensuring prosecutors can continue to charge organized crime rings under this law. Since 2019, LADA has filed more than 1,500 organized retail theft charges. AB 1802 was introduced by Assemblymember Reggie Jones-Sawyer (D-South Los Angeles). Read LADA’s AB 1802 Sponsor Letter. da.lacounty.gov


Crime investigators: Organized retail crime is 'complex fraud'

Oakland restaurants band together in collective to discourage crime, promote business

First-of-its-kind study shows gun-free zones reduce likelihood of mass shootings
 

The In-Store Evolution
Gen Z’s In-store Shopping Demands Mimic Online Expectations

Latest RetailNext report reveals Gen Z's $360 billion power push for fast, tech-driven, in-store shopping experiences paralleling the digital world.

The big standout was that Gen Z expects the same experience in a physical store as when they shop online. “Gen Z lives at the intersection of digital and physical worlds — they’re not abandoning in-store shopping — instead, they’re demanding it evolve,” RetailNext said in the report. “Their frustrations with long lines, crowded spaces, and out-of-stock items reflect a deeper need: they want stores to work for them like the digital world does — instant, personalized and frictionless.”

“Gen Z has grown up in an age where everything is on demand, and yet, when they walk into stores, they feel stuck in a system that hasn’t caught up,” the report’s authors said. “Retailers who can’t adapt risk losing this generation to the more fluid and responsive e-commerce spaces they trust. Gen Z isn’t just a consumer group — they’re a force pushing brick-and-mortar stores to become smarter, faster and more intuitive.”

These preferences may explain another data point revealed in the survey: while Gen Z loves to shop in physical stores, they often leave empty-handed.

The survey showed that 69 percent of Gen Z shop in brick-and-mortar stores weekly. “Yet, they’re leaving those stores empty-handed more often than any other group due to the heightened frustrations that hinder their willingness to complete purchases,” the report noted, adding that 66 percent of Gen Z “cited long lines as their biggest pain point, followed closely by crowded aisles (55 percent) and difficulty finding items (47 percent).”  wwd.com

RELATED: Why 9 out of 10 European shoppers prefer in-store shopping


Reduce Risks & Improve EHS Performance
Complementary Life-Saving Tools: AI and Personal Competencies

AI, augmented by visual literacy, can help reduce risks and significantly improve EHS performance.

We move through a distribution center, construction site, oil and gas field, manufacturing facility, and other indoor and outdoor work environments throughout a shift. How many times do we pass a hazard every day, or multiple times a shift, that we fail to see, operating out of habit on automatic pilot?

These environments are dynamic and always changing. How many times do we observe a hazard that is visible for a moment, then hidden from view? Visual literacy competencies teach us not to be too confident in our ability to recognize hazards—and to expect the unexpected. This is another case of human skills complementing the power of AI.

AI produces constant streaming visuals, processes vast amounts of data and identifies patterns. Still, critical thinking, human judgment, empathy, contextual understanding, understanding organizational cultures and values, and risk mitigation problem-solving are crucial in many EHS situations.

EHS professionals bring a level of intuition, curiosity, creativity, personal and institutional memory, strong interpersonal skills, and resourcefulness that AI currently struggles to replicate. AI’s contribution to image data analysis and risk assessment and management is inevitably going to increase, but human skills, oversight and intervention will remain essential for the foreseeable future.  ehstoday.com


Supply Chain Crisis Averted
US dock workers agree on deal with port operators to end strike

International Longshoremen’s Association announces agreement for wage hike and immediate work resumption

The US ports strike that shut down shipping on the east and Gulf coasts for three days came to an end on Thursday after dock workers struck a tentative deal with port operators.

The International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) announced that the union had reached an agreement with the United States Maritime Alliance (USMX) on wages, suspending their walkout until January. Work would resume immediately, the union said.

The strike – which involved 45,000 workers across 36 ports, from Texas to Maine – was the first to hit the east and Gulf coast ports of the US since 1977.

The tentative agreement is for a wage hike of around 62%, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters. Both sides said in a statement they would return to the bargaining table to negotiate all outstanding issues. theguardian.com


Panic Buying of Toilet Paper Triggered by Dockworker Strike

What’s the Deal With Kmart?