Dayton Business Journal...
Retailers seek to thwart holiday shoplifters
by Ginger Christ
Saturday, December 10, 2011 

For store owners, the holiday season simultaneously is a blessing and curse. 

The increased sales bring in much-needed revenue for retailers, most of whom rely on the busy holiday shopping season to propel their stores into profitable territory by year end. 

However, upped traffic also gives shoplifters the opportunities they need to take five finger discounts. 

“When there’s more traffic and the stores are packed with people, shoplifters feel it’s an easier target. They can blend in with the crowd,” said Dave Duebber, general manager of the Dayton Mall. 

Among the top items stolen are prime cuts of meat, liquor and designer clothing, according to Adweek.com. 

Note: Click below for a slideshow of the top 10 stolen items. 

Duebber said the mall tries to take a hard-line approach to shoplifting. 

In addition to employing mall security, the mall and several loss prevention specialists from stores within the mall also have teamed up with the Miami Township Police Department. Loss prevention specialists now carry police radios and can communicate both with mall security and the local police department. 

And, when shoplifters are caught, the mall bans the offender from the premises, typically for a year.

“Does it keep people away? No, but we feel it sends a really strong message. It costs everybody when people steal from the stores,” Duebber said.

Thieves banned from the mall later caught for another offense then can be charged with criminal trespass in addition to the shoplifting charge. 

A study by Checkpoint Systems found that retail theft topped $107 billion globally in 2010, and costs each U.S. family $423 annually. The National Association for Shoplifting Prevention estimates that more than $13 billion worth of goods annually are stolen from retailers. 

Michael Frank, an owner and manager of Dayton-based Arrow Wine, said the company’s two stores — in Centerville and Kettering — lose $1,500 to $1,800 in stolen merchandise every six months, which is less than 1 percent of total sales. 

Arrow Wine, which sells liquor, beer and wine, sees the highest theft rate in liquor. 

“It’s another expense of doing business. We don’t accept it. We just do our best to keep it low,” Frank said. “The honest people pay for it like they always do.” 

To cut down on theft, the stores use security cameras and employees try to be vigilant. 

At Dorothy Lane Market, the best tactic the Oakwood-based grocery chain has for curbing shoplifting is customer service, said Cory Kuntz, director of loss prevention. 

While security cameras and electronic tagging work in loss prevention, oftentimes simple customer service, such as greetings all customers, can be the most successful deterrent, Kuntz said. 

“When you’re on the radar, so to speak, the opportunity is not there,” Kuntz said 

Despite the stores’ efforts, theft does pick up during the holidays, doubling in the weeks before Thanksgiving through the end of the year. 

Dorothy Lane Market typically has four cases of theft per week during the holiday season, Kuntz said. 

Most often shoplifters take middle-of-the-aisle grocery items, such as medicines, Gillette razors, wine or beer. However, the store has had instances in which shoplifters have tried to walk out of the store with full carts and hand baskets full of meat. 

Rachael Betzler, public relations manager for Kroger’s Dayton area stores, said the Cincinnati-based chain uses undercover security to manage theft. 

Brad Ditzell, manager at MacTown, an authorized Apple retailer, said his store usually experiences a low volume of theft. 

The stores, which are by the Dayton Mall and at The Greene, keep all electronics locked up, leaving only low-priced items like computer accessories at risk. 

While the majority of shoplifters aren’t professionals, the three percent who are pros steal 10 percent of total dollar losses, according to NASP. 

Dayton often is a target for those professionals — those who steal to turn a profit -– because of its prime location between Interstates 70, 70 and 675, said Major John DiPietro, Miami Township deputy police chief. 

Boosters are known to make loops from Cincinnati to Dayton to Columbus in a single day, using the highway system for quick get-a-ways between crime scenes. 

In fall 2010, DiPietro spearheaded a regional task force to target the organized retail crime problem, which he said has worsened in the past two to three years. 

See the top 10 stolen items, and read this and other articles at Dayton Business Journal