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From September 2007
By Joe LaRocca
Last month the NRF, along with some
retailers and other trade groups, made
presentations to state legislators on the topic
of eFencing.
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One large auction company is pointing the finger
back at retailers, saying we are not doing
enough to protect our goods or monitor our own
employees. It fails to see the simple truth: The
Internet has become a common – and, indeed,
preferred – venue for criminals (employees,
shoplifters and organized retail crime groups). |
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In addition, while retailers are losing billions
of dollars, consumers are paying higher prices
and states are losing tax revenue, the auction
sites continue to profit. The only way to fight
these crimes is to increase the risk and
eliminate the benefit.
In my view, when the world’s largest auction
site creates a policy restricting the number and
value of gift cards being sold per seller – but
leaves it to retailers to report violations –
something has to change.
Some retailers have learned the “super secret
double handshake” to get limited information,
but most are told to call the police; this is
far short of what a good partnership is all
about. There will be a lot more to follow on
this topic in the coming months.
ORC Task Force
NRF’s Joint Organized Retail Crime Task Force
met in Washington at the beginning of August.
Attendees included representatives from the FBI,
Walgreen, Gap, Mervyns, Target, Meijer, Big
Lots, SuperVALU, Wal-Mart, Lowe’s and Staples.
The group is monitoring eFencing activity as
well as ORC trends and is working on various
initiatives to enforce the partnership between
retailers and law enforcement. Once the meeting
adjourned, members took a tour of FBI
headquarters.
The Women in Loss Prevention Caucus held a
quarterly conference call last month. Guest
speaker Karen Kang, positioning and branding
expert for Karen Kang Consulting, discussed
"Positioning Your Department Within Your
Company." The call was a resounding success and
further illustrates NRF’s commitment to
providing the loss prevention community with
valuable educational content and resources.
Annual summit
NRF is holding its third annual Loss Prevention
Senior Executive Summit in Dallas next month. I
am excited to get this group together again to
discuss the strategic direction of our industry
and build on past accomplishments.
If you are the senior leader in your LP
department and have not received your
invitation, please contact me (laroccaj@nrf.com)
or Angélica Rodriguez (rodrigueza@nrf.com).
A personal note in closing. Over the past few
months we have all been reminded how fragile the
human body can be. In late July, Kmart loss
prevention associate David Busby was shot and
killed when confronting a shoplifter.
On a more encouraging note, I’m pleased to
report that Doug Wicklander of
Wicklander-Zulawski Associates is recovering
from the brain surgery he underwent last month.
Our thoughts and prayers go out to families and
colleagues of both men. |
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