Community Chat

[Maltichonmom17]

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@Twins Mom wrote:

@Kachina624 

Its not just Kohl's and I don't believe its stores' fault. I believe it's an insurance policy thing.  ULTA gets hit here quite severely - same circumstances.  It does, however, make me hesitant to shop in smaller store like that because thieves usually armed.

The dollars walking out doors are crazy high. Someone has to be buying this merchandise..... Are we to believe those buying thus discounted stuff don't know where it comes from?

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This is true. I worked in retail for over 25 years. I've seen how interactions between security and shoplifters has changed dramatically over the years. By the time I retired from retail, there was virtually no interaction, just surveillance. The loss prevention department's hands are pretty much tied.  Actually for a store, it is cheaper for them to let them walk and file insurance claims for the losses. More importantly, the mandates about interacting with shoplifters really come from the legal department. For a store, the only thing worse than shoplifting losses are lawsuits. Man, the things I've witnessed at work with my own eyes over the years are unbelievable. 😳

[Nancy Drew]

I guess I'll just disregard  the videos of stealing, McDonalds and Starbucks CEO addressing the problem of crime in their establishments . 

[Kachina624]

@Spurt    We're not strapping guns on our hips here but we do have a concealed carry law and plenty of people are packin'.  For every honest citizen carrying a weapon, there seem to be 10 thugs with them and they're indiscriminate about how they use them.

[Spurt]

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@Kachina624 wrote:

@Spurt    We're not strapping guns on our hips here but we do have a concealed carry law and plenty of people are packin'.  For every honest citizen carrying a weapon, there seem to be 10 thugs with them and they're indiscriminate about how they use them.

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@Kachina624 

Sadly KACHINA these day's its become like an old Western TV Show or Movie.....

[pdlinda]

@Meowingkitty   I know we, in Phx, are currently experiencing a tremendous shortage of Police Officers and that has persisted for several  yearss. 

I know that Glendale has its own police force so maybe you're better staffed with officers than we are.

Also, with the COVID situation that occurred in early 2020 that may have had an affect on local police forces referring cases to our Maricopa County Atty's office. 

Perhaps you recall that the County Atty we had at the time you describe recently passed away and she was experiencing health issues throughout that time.  When the interim C.A., Rachel Mitchell (who's running for the position now) took over the Office there were thousands of cases that "fell through the cracks" during the last few years, so for a crime like you're describing I believe it's reasonable to conclude that, no, the thieves were never prosecuted and because of that fact, perhaps they continued and still continue to shoplife.

[Porcelain]

Well then it isn't really a Kohls. It's more of a Goodwill. Or a charity bin. Need a penny take a penny have a penny leave a penny kind of thing.

If Kohls wants to have a pro-shoplifting policy, that's a strange way to do business. But it must be profitable to do it that way or they would stop or close the store. The goods they "sell" must all be extremely extremely cheap. It probably costs more to pay staff and security than it does to lose all that stock.

Edited to add: I just read the post that mentioned the store making an insurance claim on the stolen goods. Now thaaaaat makes sense. That might be a big factor here.

Pay one person to make a bunch of insurance claims on the losses vs paying lots of people to risk their lives trying to aprehend thieves. It's no contest. They're going to choose the administrative solution every time. It's much cheaper and they can probably use it to pay less taxes at the same time.

I'll also say my local Kohls is just fine. It's nice enough. I don't get any sense of impending violence or seedy crime going on there. I haven't noticed anyone running out the door with armfuls of pants or anything like that. I think most places are pretty safe in our country.

[wilma]

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@spumoni99 wrote:

I go in to my local Kohls a lot never had any issue.

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@spumoni99 
Same here. Never experienced anything like this in Kohl's or any other store I frequent.

I live in a medium sized city, and yes, we have too much crime, but I've never seem or heard of people walking out with loads of merchandise during operation hours. We have had instances where people rammed a car into a gun, jewelry, or mobile phone store to steal things in the middle of the night. 

[Porcelain]

Here's what I'd do. I'd have a double door system. You pass through one door, then pass through the theft scanner thingy, then another door. If the theft scanner goes off, boom both doors close and you're stuck in a live trap. And then they wait until the police come.

If there were a fire or other emergency, they could automatically take my trapping system offline to let everyone get out quickly.

I'm sure there are reasons it wouldn't work, but I still like my idea.

The checkout people would have to be a LOT more careful about removing the anti-theft tags for everyone or there would be constant traffic jams at the exit.

[Trailrun23]

I would nver follow one of the thieves. What good would it do? If they are that brazen, they could also have a weapon. I haven't been in a Kohl's in quite a while, but if I saw that happening even once i would never go back. Unless they protect their employees, they will leave too. They need security guards at the door who are not afraid to "detain" the thieves or at least relieve them of their haul and send them away. 

Kohls is already having financial problems; stuff like this could finish them off...Walgreens has already closed a lot of stores for the same reason.

What is wrong with people??!! When I was in NYC a few years ago, most of the dept stores had a cop at the door and they only let a certain small number of customers in at a time. They had ropes up and long lines waiting to get inside. No thanks.

[software]

@Kachina624 

I used to love my local Kohl's

My DD & I gave them a lot of our money.   

I loved Vera Wang clothing, fit perfectly right off the rack, modern designs but nothing wild or "out there"

Great variety of gifts & toys during the holidays.

I can't say enough good about it.

Then came the pandemic.   Many of their branded items were gone, store inventory is skimpy.   

I've personally never seen a shoplifter but most of the crimes seem to be some form of identity theft or credit card fraud.   I read the police blotters from some of the local towns.  A picture of a shoplifting suspect will be shown, then the crime listed is usually "credit card fraud".    Too lazy to run out with merchandise, I guess. 

I live in a relatively high crime area but it's mostly gang members killing each other, some car jackings but like others have mentioned, everyone carries so you have to be either very brave or very stupid to confront someone.   But being safe is 2nd nature to me.   It's not fear mongering to share a legitimate warning.