Beverage Dynamics

Beverage Dynamics March-April 2014

Beverage Dynamics is the largest national business magazine devoted exclusively to the needs of off-premise beverage alcohol retailers, from single liquor stores to big box chains, through coverage of the latest trends in wine, beer and spirits.

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www.beveragedynamics.com March/April 2014 • Beverage Dynamics 59 R etailers are a gregarious bunch. They want to attract people to their stores, show them cool, desir- able things, provide them with an enjoyable shopping experience and, as much as possible, give them what they want. "We know our own business," said Craig Maske, general manager of Sherlock's, a fi ve-store operation headquar- tered in Marietta, GA. "When I see a ten-foot-tall display, I'm think- ing that's great, it's so eye-catching, it will really sell the product." But, he continued, "When Bill sees it, the fi rst thing he'll say is, 'People are going to steal you blind because they can hide behind it.'" Bill is Bill Bregar, president of Loss Pre- vention Systems (retaillosspreventionstore. com), the Atlanta-based loss-prevention con- sulting fi rm that Sherlock's uses. The kind of perspective Bregar has is a valu- able one for a retail operation to consider. Retail crime can be a big problem. According to the Global Retail Theft Barometer, an annual study done by Euro- monitor International, funded by Checkpoint Systems, American retailers lose, on average, 1.5% of their sales to theft. The two main sources of loss: employee theft and shoplifting. "I cease to be amazed at what people will steal; they'll steal everything, but they are not reinventing the wheel. What they do is look for gaps in your system," said Sher- lock's Maske. AN INSIDE JOB For retailers in general, employee theft is the bigger problem. Employees tend to steal more than shoplifters do. According to a survey done by Jack L. Hayes International, a loss-prevention fi rm, the average loss per case for employee theft is $715.24, which is fi ve and a half times more than the average for shoplifting cases, $129.12. And employees tend to steal continuously, over time. "If you try to ignore employee theft, it BY CHERYL URSIN R h shopping shopping Deterring and detecting retail crime is a serious game of cat and mouse. Playing Defense The model VSX-2MP-MVD4 camera made by 3xLogic.

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