American Eagle Global AP Officer Pushes Congress on ORC
Business leaders urge Congress to help combat organized retail theft
Scott McBride, the chief global asset protection officer for American Eagle Outfitters, told the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee last week that organized retail crime (ORC) amounts to much more than simple shoplifting. It represents a sophisticated criminal enterprise perpetrating massive thefts and crossing jurisdictional lines to avoid prosecution.

“While ORC is not new, its veracity, sophistication, and frequency and geographic reach have dramatically increased in the post-COVID era,” McBride explained. “These groups use encrypted message apps to recruit thieves, coordinate the consolidation of stolen goods, liquidate them through illicit online tertiary and black market sites, and even exfiltrate stolen products out of the country.”

McBride said American Eagle Outfitters, which operates 23 stores across North Carolina, notes the problem has grown so large with repeatedly victimized retail stores, it has disrupted supply chains.

A recent case involving the federal agency Homeland Security Investigations as well as state and local law enforcement, successfully recovered to almost 2,000 pairs of American Eagle jeans along with other retailer merchandise totaling almost $2 million.

“The retail jeans were valued at $100,000. RFID research revealed that those stolen AEO jeans came from 35 stores in 13 states,” McBride testified.

That one case underscores the urgent need for national level involvement, McBride said, to support local and state government, district attorneys, and state’s attorneys general in prosecuting such cases. newsfromthestates.com


America Becoming 'Nation of Small-Time Return Fraudsters'
Return fraud is running rampant

Why so many law-abiding Americans are fine with the low-key fraud that's costing businesses $103 billion a year

The ability to return an item you've purchased has become a core part of the shopping experience. Customers may buy a few more items than they would otherwise because it's a no-harm, no-foul situation on returns. Backsies are allowed.

But retailers say consumers are engaging in too many backsies. Some are committing outright return fraud — shipping back empty boxes, swapping out different items, or claiming a package never arrived. Others are abusing generous return policies by attempting to send back items after days, weeks, and even months of use.

And while it's tempting to blame organized criminals, retailers and return logistics operators say a lot of everyday consumers are the culprits, too. People are strapped for cash, they've been trained to expect super loose return policies, and they don't feel bad about pulling one over on a faceless company.

"Consumers who would never go into a physical store and take an item off without paying and stealing are actually being trained socially that it's actually acceptable to take advantage of retailers in these small ways," says David Morin, the vice president of client strategy at Narvar, a retail logistics company. "They think it's OK, right? Stick it to the man."

America is becoming a nation of small-time return fraudsters, one box of fibs at a time.

Arecent report from Appriss Retail and Deloitte found that the total value of merchandise returned in the US reached $685 billion in 2024. Fifteen percent of that — $103 billion — was fraudulent, the report said, meaning the product shouldn't have qualified for a refund under the retailer's policies.

Morin says it's hard to suss out who, specifically, is responsible for fraudulent behavior — organized criminals versus everyday consumers — but it's clear that a wider range of people are partaking than you may expect. In 2024, Narvar ran a survey of US consumers that found that more than half of consumers admitted to engaging in fraudulent returns at least once.

In a separate 2023 survey of US online shoppers from Loop Returns, a returns management software company, nearly four in 10 people admitted to having engaged in returns policy abuse themselves or knowing of someone who had. businessinsider.com


PA Fights 53% Surge in Retail Theft
Organized retail crime is on the rise, including in the Pittsburgh region

In response to the surge of retail crime, the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General recently established the Organized Retail Crime Unit

To unsuspecting Facebook users, the “Pittsburgh Stamps” page was a spot for cheap deals — groceries, power tools and home security products all listed at a fraction of the retail cost and delivered to their front door.

What shoppers didn’t see was that behind the page advertising goods from Lowes and Giant Eagle was an elaborate scam that thrived off the stolen identities of hundreds of people, stretching across five counties.

Mr. Tucker’s arrest offers a snapshot of a growing trend in the U.S., where communities and businesses are falling victim to organized retail crime rings that coordinate the theft of merchandise and resell the goods online and at flea markets for a fraction of the cost. As a result, retailers face increased costs for lost product, security and labor, all of which leads to higher prices for consumers and ultimately lower sales. In Pennsylvania, retail theft filings rose 53% between 2021 and 2023, according to data from the Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts.

In response to the surge of retail crime, Pennsylvania passed Act 42, which established the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General’s Organized Retail Crime Unit in July 2024 and made retail theft of goods over $50,000 a first-degree felony. The unit operates statewide with 10 agents and five attorneys.

“This unit is aggressively pursuing thieves who operate in packs, oftentimes terrorizing purely innocent store employees and shoppers,” Mr. Sunday said. “The perception that retail theft is a petty crime is outdated, as these crimes are violent in nature and designed to menace and frighten bystanders.”

In Western Pennsylvania, authorities say these cases are becoming more common and more sophisticated. post-gazette.com
 

Crime & Other Challenges Plague City-Owned Stores
Kansas City poured millions into a grocery store. It still may close.

More cities and states are experimenting with the concept of city-owned grocery stores, but these experiments often don’t account for social issues.

Area residents had long lived without a decent supermarket on Kansas City’s east side, and KC Sun Fresh was the city’s attempt to alleviate a lack of access to healthy food in its urban center. But the store, in a city-owned strip mall, is on the verge of closure.

Customers say they are increasingly afraid to shop there — even with visible police patrols — because of drug dealing, theft and vagrancy both inside and outside the store and the public library across the street.

KC Sun Fresh lost $885,000 last year and now has only about 4,000 shoppers a week. That’s down from 14,000 a few years ago, according to Emmet Pierson Jr., who leads Community Builders of Kansas City, the nonprofit that leases the site from the city. Despite a recent $750,000 cash infusion from the city, the shelves are almost bare.

As grocery prices continue to climb and 7 million Americans face losing federal food assistance, more cities and states across the country — in Illinois, Georgia and Wisconsin — are experimenting with the concept of publicly supported grocery stores as a way to help provide for low-income neighborhoods.

Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic candidate for mayor of New York City, has attracted attention for his campaign pledge to combat “out-of-control” prices by establishing five city-owned supermarkets that he says will pass savings onto customers by operating “without a profit motive.”

Yet these experiments, like the one in Kansas City, often don’t account for social issues that can make success even more challenging. Critics say the efforts are unrealistic regardless because grocery stores have such slim profit margins and struggle to compete with the prices offered by big-box chains like Walmart. High-profile projects have failed in recent months in Florida and Massachusetts. washingtonpost.com


'Deliberately Falsifying Crime Data' in D.C.
DC police commander suspended, accused of changing crime statistics

Police union says directive to change offense classifications comes from command staff.

A D.C. police commander is under investigation for allegedly making changes to crime statistics in his district.

The Metropolitan Police Department confirmed Michael Pulliam was placed on paid administrative leave in mid-May. That happened just a week after Pulliam filed an equal employment opportunity complaint against an assistant chief and the police union accused the department of deliberately falsifying crime data, according to three law enforcement sources familiar with the complaint.

The union claims police supervisors in the department manipulate crime data to make it appear violent crime has fallen considerably compared to last year. nbcwashington.com


Crime down nearly across the board in Massachusetts

Data and maps: View Baltimore crime reports by neighborhood, block
 

Which Retailers Are Getting Hit the Hardest?
Apparel, department stores struggling the most under US trade policy, analysis shows

A pause in some tariffs lessens the profitability hit, but costs are higher and “the consumer environment remains difficult,” Moody’s Ratings said.

U.S. apparel, footwear and department store retailers and brands are facing a tough road thanks to the country’s tariff-heavy trade policy.

As they sell through inventories acquired earlier this year, import duties will eat into their profitability, and, with little room to raise prices, revenue will grow 3% at most, according to a recent Moody’s Ratings report. The analysts led by Senior Vice President Christina Boni give the sector a negative outlook, stating “the consumer environment remains difficult.”

These retailers are “the most exposed to current tariffs and vulnerable to further increases,” Boni said.

So far in 2025, department stores have seen year-on-year sales declines every month except January, though apparel retailers have gained most months, according to numbers from the U.S. Department of Commerce. Value players like Walmart (which “will particularly outperform, based on its scale and significant exposure to grocery”) and off-price retailers have an advantage, according to Moody’s research. “In contrast, Target’s ... operating performance will be weak in part because of its higher mix of discretionary general merchandise sales,” the analysts said. retaildive.com


Are Employers Falling Short on Mental Health?
Employer Supported Mental Health Falls Short

Only 25% of employees strongly agree that their organization cares about their well-being, says WebMD study.

Looking at mental health and well-being over the past year, a report from WebMD Health Services Center for Research, Workplace Well-Being in 2025, released last month, found that fewer employees feel that their organizations care about their well-being. There was a 14-point drop from 2024 to 2025 in the percentage of employees reporting "excellent" mental health.

Female employees rated their mental health lower than male employees, with the largest gaps seen among Gen Z and Millennial workers—differences of 21% and 19%, respectively.

"The decline in employee mental health over the past year is a clear signal that organizations must prioritize well-being and support systems more than ever," said Erin Seaverson, senior director of the Center for Research at WebMD Health Services, in a statement. "As the workplace continues to evolve, fostering an environment that values mental health is essential to not only support employees but also to drive organizational success."  ehstoday.com


Retail Impacted by Extreme Weather Events
Extreme weather caused by climate change is raising food prices worldwide
Extreme weather caused by climate change is driving up the prices of basic food products worldwide and posing wider risks to society, a new study has found.

The cost of a wide range of goods – from potatoes in Britain to coffee in Brazil – saw dramatic spikes in recent years due to weather conditions that were “so extreme they exceeded all historical precedent prior to 2020,” according to the study led by Maximillian Kotz of the Barcelona Supercomputer Center.

Previous studies have examined how high temperatures have affected the cost of food produce in the long term, by impacting yields and hitting supply chains. The new research, published Monday, looked at 16 examples across 18 countries around the world where prices spiked in the short term as a result of either extreme heat, drought or heavy precipitation between 2022 and 2024. cnn.com


How Will Tariff's Impact Holiday Spending?
Will Holiday Shopping Spend Beat Last Year’s Numbers, Despite Tariff Concerns?
If you’re already crossing names and gifts off your shopping list, you’re probably not alone. The expansion of the holiday purchasing season means that more than one-third (34%) of those polled by Salsify in the production of its “2025 Holiday Pulse Report” have already begun buying presents for their nearest and dearest, although that does leave the bulk of the remainder (58%) waiting until peak season — spanning September through December — to whip out their cash or credit cards.

The biggest question on the table, however: Will holiday shopping spend outperform 2024’s numbers? Let’s look to the data for one take. retailwire.com


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