Shoplifted: The hardware owners view
The National Retail Federation’s 2023 National Retail Security Survey found that 67 percent of retailers said they’ve seen more violence and aggression from shoplifters compared with the previous year.
The problem, compounded with shoplifting in general, has hardware stores looking for relief. Two of them recently shared their insights, learnings and best practices with HBSDealer.
“We are in a seasonal community so in the off season we know most of our customers by name. In the summer months we do see an uptick in theft,” said James Cote, owner with his wife Megan, of Osterville Hardware, a Do it Best dealer, on Cape Cod, Massachusetts.
They have instructed their team members on what to do in a shoplifting incident.
“Our top priority is customer service, that is our greatest defense to theft,” he said. “We also train on the telltale signs such as when a customer tends to stay in the back aisle of the store and tends to avoid our sales associates.”
They look for these “tells” and when they see them they won’t leave the customer alone.
“It sounds obnoxious but it works,” said Cote, “we will take turns asking the customer what they need and if we are really suspicious, we will plant ourselves near them and make it look like we are working on an order or inventory so we can keep an eye on them.”
If they happen to see someone put something in their pocket, he said, “we will ask them if they want us to put it at the register for them. We never outright accuse them but just try to be helpful and always stay friendly.”
He and his wife have owned Osterville Hardware since the fall of 2010. James started working at Osterville Hardware in 2002 as a summer job which developed into a year-round position through high school and into college.
When they moved back to Cape Cod from Pennsylvania, “the store had fallen on tough times and the opportunity arose to purchase the business and we jumped at it,” he said.
Megan managed a high-end perfume business during the week and worked in the hardware store on the weekends as they built back the business.
This owner has also had personal experience with a shoplifter.
“My first experience was before I owned the store and I saw someone slip a product in their pocket and just asked them if they needed any help and then if I could put that screwdriver at the register for them. They were friendly, but it was years before I saw them again,” he said.
One shoplifting suspect cursed at the store's team as he exited the store after being observed/assisted. An inspection of the aisle where the suspected shoplifter loitered found all kinds of products in the wrong places—products that the suspect apparently tried to discard as he was being observed.
“We always keep it friendly – it’s not worth the potential danger of confronting a possible thief,” Cote said. “And if our team isn’t comfortable, we have them call for a manager or myself to assist.”
The most common items taken are usually hand and power tool accessories, the owner said. “I will look for trends such as, a tape measure today, a chisel yesterday, and pliers last week. If someone is ‘shopping’ their stolen products, then we know they are a regular customer.”
Cote makes the team aware of a potential shoplifter and puts extra coverage in that area of the store: “Once the thief notices the added attention the problem seems to go away unless you catch them in the act.”
The Osterville Hardware owner related what surprises him most in shoplifting situations.
“The thing that always stands out is just how good these people are at stealing—and how bold,” he said. “I had one person take about 10 different types of vise grips from us. How do you walk off nonchalantly with 10 wrenches in your pocket?”
There are safety reminders for the team and other preventative measures in case of a shoplifter.
“Customer service is your best line of defense,” he said. “It will have a positive impact on your regular customers’ shopping experience and likely a higher customer return rate, too.”
He added that it's important to learn each incident of theft, and grow from it.
“When I find empty product packaging, I will let our team know and remind them that we need to do a better job of working with the customers and checking in on them when they don’t need help,” he said. “I try not to let theft get to me. But it’s when I find an empty padlock wrapper that really gets me.”
Texas view
At one hardware business down in Texas, shoplifting happens, “every week at least, and possibly daily on a small scale,” said Weston Jacobs, the chief operating officer at Weakley-Watson Ace Hardware in Brownwood, a town of 18,000 southwest of Dallas.
Shoplifting, he said, “often comes from customers you don’t expect. We have caught some of our old regulars before. It is disheartening to see some of the people you consider ‘friends of the store’ turn out to be thieves and even repeat offenders.”
Jacobs thinks it’s important to remember to be aware of all situations and people. “Excessive profiling can cause you to miss the ones right under your nose and it can cause you to spend too much time focusing on the wrong people,” he said.
Jacobs and his family bought the business in 2017 from the Blagg Family. Their family had owned the business since its formation in 1876, making it the oldest continuously running hardware store in Texas.
“My wife and I left our jobs and life in Dallas and came back to my hometown to run the store alongside my parents’ independent pharmacy,” he said.
While most of their day-to-day traffic is DIY customers, about 30% of their business is done out the back door servicing several large manufacturers in their area, he said.
Companies such as: 3M, Kohler, Superior Essex, and several others make up a large portion of that mix. “We are also an area heavily influenced by agriculture and hunting so outdoor power equipment, sporting goods and firearms are a formidable portion of our daily sales,” said Jacobs.
His company, he explained, has a handbook which instructs their team members on what to do in a shoplifting incident.
It reads:
Do Not Be A Hero. Thefts are an unfortunate part of this industry and we will do all we can to reduce crimes committed against Weakley-Watson Hardware, but nothing in this store is worth protecting over your personal safety.
Pay attention and be alert to potential threats and alert management to anything suspicious. If you are robbed, give them what they want immediately. When they leave, call the police and notify management.
Do not discuss the incident with anyone else until police have assisted. Try to be observant of notable information such as description of the assailant, vehicles associated, times, etc. Do not chase the criminal. Report shoplifting immediately and make note of the time and location of any occurrence.
Generally speaking, he said, they attempt to prevent theft simply by keeping in close proximity to their customers and identifying the signs of typical thieves.
“We take note of things like customers who are: Actively avoiding help or hiding on back aisles and corners; carrying large bags that are easily opened and closed, even though we have signage prohibiting these in store; spending unusual amounts of time in areas that do not typically require it; and, aimlessly wandering every aisle of the store,” he said, adding, “most people are not just wanting to know what toilet wax rings you have for fun.”
Unfortunately, theft is enough of an issue that his team has had to become adept at recognizing the signs of a theft in progress.
They have found that simply paying attention to their customers and keeping in proximity to those they suspect has been the best deterrent.
“My associates are also trained to know some weak areas of our camera security,” the COO said. “Thankfully, thus far, we have not had any aggressive robberies or thefts that we have identified and have not had occasion to have any confrontations.”
The retailer embraces the use of social media as a way to communicate incidents with other businesses in the town, as well as to identify thieves. It's a practice that has had some success in the small town, he said.
“We have worked hard to make sure that we use our Facebook to highlight confirmed thefts so that our fellow business community members will recognize and highlight known thieves,” he explained. “We use these instances to make ‘funny’ posts where we light-heartedly ridicule the thieves and point them out to our small community. We know this is a controversial way to handle thieves but we have realized that these folks tend to run in the same circles
“When we ‘blast’ them on social media, we establish ourselves as a business that is willing to pursue offenders and will not lie down and let it happen without consequence,” he said.
“Believe it or not, local law enforcement has been greatly encouraged by our stance. They follow our page and use it as a resource to track patterns of their own known offenders,” he added.
The partnership with police has helped "get several folks charged and sent away," he said, though there's little to show in terms of recovered merchandise.
The owner pointed out counter-measures hardware management can use.
Be active with customers, he said. “We keep enough people working the floor so that we are rarely outpaced by more than a 5:1 customer to associate ratio. That may sound like a lot to some and not enough to others, but we have found that to be manageable.”
Also the COO said, “don’t skimp on camera quality. We spent years fighting with low quality cameras that didn't give us any of the imagery we needed to identify or stop theft. I justified not purchasing real security systems with the thought ‘How much would I have to lose per month to recoup the cost of what a new security camera system would cost me?’
“In the first two months of our new camera system through ADT we were able to identify over $1,500 of theft and get that information to local law enforcement, who then took care of the offenders. It also provided peace of mind, I can now step away from customers and situations that may be endangering, and monitor suspicious activity,” he said.
Working with his team, they have found great employee buy-in by emphasizing the importance of preventing shoplifting in terms of how it impacts them.
They teach their employees the true cost of a theft.
“I show them the loss, the replenishment, and how that impacts store health,” he said. “Once they realized that theft can ultimately impact their own livelihoods, they found a new desire to be observant and vigilant.”
Culture plays a huge part in that as well, he said, “when your associates believe in the store and what you are doing, they tend to have a little emotional ownership in the well-being of the company.”
The bulk of their customers are hard working and honest. “Do not fall into the temptation to let a few bad instances spoil our view of the great men and women we serve,” said the owner. “Take the problem seriously, address it, fight against it. But do not allow yourself to lose sight of the good that still exists.”
