You were born for the Stage...

[BookstoreEscapee]

Started to tell this one in another thread, but then I realized I was going pretty far off topic, so I thought I'd start a new one.

There are a few flea markets in my area, and one issue we had in the store was the thieves who would swipe the bestsellers to sell there. The really organized ones would "stage" books a few at a time, and wait until it was safe to run out with them.

They would find an out of the way area, clean off a chunk of space from a random shelf, and stage their product there. When they felt it was safe, they'd load up a bag and head out the door to their accomplice waiting in the car. We'd find the books that were supposed to be on those shelves stuck randomly on other shelves in the area, sometimes laying on top of the books or stuck in front of faced out titles so they'd be partially hanging off the shelf. But if you were just passing by you weren't likely to notice out of the corner of your eye.

For some reason a certain bay in the "C" section of Fiction was a popular spot (off to the side but right before the windows, and not too far from the front door, with the newsstand in between to hide behind). I guess the fact that Fiction has a lot of mass markets makes it easier to clear space on a shelf; larger books would be more conspicuous just laying around. I was putting something away once and noticed a handful of titles from that bay randomly sitting on a shelf across the aisle, and when I went to put them back on the shelf they were supposed to be on there were a number of copies of several bestsellers, in about a foot-wide space on each of 4 shelves, just waiting to be picked up. Collected more "C" titles on about a dozen different shelves in that aisle. Another time we noticed that a certain title was almost empty on the bestseller bay that had recently been filled, and later found the same bay in fiction half empty with the books that belonged there scattered around. When we checked stock and counted we were missing about 20 copies of that book. And one of my managers once caught a guy in that aisle with 15 copies of The DaVinci Code in a backpack. The guy bolted but he left the bag and the manager called the cops.

Any other creative ways the thieves get your store?

[wagegoth]

We actually found a case of china (8 full place settings) shoved under a cloth-covered table by the aisle, waiting for the floor to be empty for the person to grab it and walk out with it. They wouldn't have been stopped, because there was no way to bag it, there were no security tags, and anyone who saw it would have assumed the person had a receipt if they were carrying something that size out of the store.

[sarahj]

The same strategy was used by thieves in my mother's old department. They'd stash sheet sets, with the matching quilt and pillow covers in a particular spot, then come back later to steal them. Mum put quite a few of these 'stashes' away.

She also once spotted a lady with an expensive quilt in the basket under her pram. So Mum asked the lady if she'd like her to ring it up, and she could only agree. Mum took it over to the register and scanned it, then the lady said she couldn't afford it and left.

Now Mum's problems are teen girls who pick up expensive bags and take them to her fitting room (she works in children's clothing, on a different level to the bags) pretending they own them. So they cut off all the tags and walk out with 'free' $150 bags. Thieves suck. Those bags have gone up heaps in price, $120 to $180 on average in the last year, I guess cos they get stolen.

[aqutalion]

A while ago, I was shopping in a new-age bookstore, and the clerk told me about a guy who had shoplifted a 40-lb. crystal ball. I have no idea how he managed that.

[Kogarashi]

She also once spotted a lady with an expensive quilt in the basket under her pram. So Mum asked the lady if she'd like her to ring it up, and she could only agree. Mum took it over to the register and scanned it, then the lady said she couldn't afford it and left.

I've put merchandise in the basket under the stroller while shopping before, mostly because I was by myself and unable to push a card and a stroller at the same time. I always worry that someone is going to think I'm trying to shoplift the stuff, but I do make sure when I get to the checkout to check the stroller thoroughly for any merchandise I put in there. And I'm one of those people who would return to the store (even if it was a half hour drive away) if I found something I'd forgotten to pay for.

[AFpheonix]

We had a kid once who came in with a backpack full of phone books, and then proceeded to replace the phonebooks with electric toothbrushes.

All the electric toothbrushes got to come and be in the pharmacy after that, until they could get a locking cabinet to put on the shelf for them. We also now have some really good res cameras aimed along the outside aisles of the store plus one over the pharmacy counter.

[Fera Festiva]

At Claire's, the stock was out on those hooks that clip directly into the wall - there's probably a name for them, but I don't remember it. The walls of the store have ridges in them, and the hooks just slide in. (Like this, in fact.)

Anyway, when I worrked there (around 6-7 years ago - bloody hell) those stick-on body jewels were really popular. They used to get stolen a lot, as it was a small shop so it was easy for a shoplifter to unhook the entire hook from the wall, hide it and get out before anyone spotted them (few staff, no CCTV, no security guards). Because the body jewels were flat, there could be 20 or 30 on a hook. They weren't worth much, but a thief could grab 60 or more packets easily. We'd only notice they were gone when we spotted the gap in the wall display.