Industry News
Checkpoint Systems, a global leader in retail security and merchandise availability, announced in late March that its U.S. and Canadian CheckView video, intrusion, and fire/safety business will be sold to an affiliate of Platinum Equity, a California-based private equity firm. The $5.4 million cash transaction, which is scheduled to close by the end of April, includes the use of the CheckView name, all continuing operations, and assets associated with the U.S. and Canadian business. Assets include a central station service that provides CheckView's customers with the only 24/7 monitoring dedicated strictly to the retail industry. In addition, about 225 current…
Wednesday, 27 March 2013 10:10
Feds Release 2012 Counterfeit Seizure Statistics
Written by Robert L. DiLonardo
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) recently released results of ongoing efforts to protect America from the trade of counterfeit and pirated goods in the annual Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) Fiscal Year 2012 Seizure Statistics Report (www.cpb.gov). The agencies' expanded efforts lead to 691 arrests, 423 indictments, and 334 prosecutions in the fiscal year ending September 30, 2012. In recent years the Internet has fueled explosive growth in the numbers of small packages of counterfeit and pirated goods shipped through express carriers and mail. In fiscal year 2012, the…
Efficient Consumer Response Europe (ECR Europe) recently announced the launch of a four-year, multi-project study focused upon how new technologies and business formats impact malicious and non-malicious losses in retail. ECR Europe is a trade group consisting of retailers, consumer products manufacturers, importers, logistics providers, and other entities involved in the successful pursuit of collaborative management across the retail supply chain. Its European Shrinkage Work Group will be collaborating with the Department of Criminology at the University of Leicester (U.K.), headed by Professor Adrian Beck, a well-known expert in the field. Consumer brands involved in the project include Procter &…
Sunday, 09 December 2012 13:52
Old Navy Promotes Child Safety in Retail Stores
Written by Robert L. DiLonardo
Old Navy stores throughout the U.S. and Canada hosted a child-safety event in September where local law enforcement personnel handed out educational information to help prevent child abduction and exploitation. Old Navy partnered with the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) and the Canadian Centre for Child Protection for a child-safety event from September 13 – 16 with the goal of helping families make their children safer in retail stores and at home. More than 600,000 free kids safety kits were distributed to Old Navy families containing child IDs, safety tips for children of all ages, and ideas for…
Tuesday, 23 October 2012 09:46
Four Specialty Retailers Join Forces for Professional Development
Written by Jack Trlica
How does a small loss prevention organization provide professional development to their staff? In the case of four specialty retailers, they joined together to share the expense, but more importantly, share the experience. LP executives from The Vitamin Shoppe, Talbots, Ann Inc., and Barnes & Noble College worked together to create a three-day professional "Knowledge Share" event for their field teams in conjunction with the recent ASIS conference in Philadelphia. "We started these meetings several years ago with an eye toward professional staff development," explains Gary Johnson, vice president of LP at Vitamin Shoppe. "As smaller LP departments, our challenge…
Thursday, 11 October 2012 03:00
Vector Security's David Merrick Passes Away Unexpectedly
Written by Matt Richardson
Many in the LP industry were shocked by the unexpected passing of David Merrick, 60, marketing director for Vector Security, on July 31st. In the weeks prior to his death, Merrick had been working with the magazine on a story about Vector's new business strategy and rebranding efforts that appeared in this column in the July-August issue. Merrick was an early supporter of LP Magazine as well as other industry initiatives such as certification that have contributed to the professional advancement of loss prevention. "Dave was one of the genuine leaders who sincerely believed in helping to elevate our profession…
Let's start out with a quiz—Name a type of retail store in which the sales associates are the buyers, rather than the sellers? That's right, "cash for gold scrap" stores. The spot price of gold has risen from $277 per ounce in January 2002 to about $1,770 per ounce as of this writing. In a monument to the meteoric price rise, the world's largest gold coin, weighing more than one ton, was handcrafted at the famous Perth Mint in Australia. The largest gold bar, weighing one-quarter ton was minted in Japan. The Retail Gold Rush In the past several years,…
Tuesday, 31 July 2012 16:39
Self-Checkout Theft Survey Highlights Dishonesty
Written by Robert L. DiLonardo
Raise your hand if you regularly read the "Dilbert" comic strip written by Scott Adams. A mid-May installment pictures Bob the Dinosaur in the first panel, flanked by Pointy-Haired Boss and Wally, lamenting that product sales have "dropped to zero in retail stores that have self-checkout." Bob reasons that the customers who are "dumb enough to want our product are too dumb to know how to use self-checkout." In the last panel, Pointy-Haired Boss agrees with Bob's proclamation of the bright side of the situation. "On a positive note we have the most shoplifted product of the year." Scott Adams…
Tuesday, 31 July 2012 16:27
LP Industry Loses Two Well-Known Executives
Written by Robert L. DiLonardo
Former Walmart loss prevention leader, Dave Gorman, succumbed to cancer on May 15 at the age of 65, and CarMax's Fred Wilson died from a heart attack on June 5 at the age of 62. Both were well-known, respected retail executives. Dave Gorman Gorman began his loss prevention career in shortage control and inventory administration with Venture Stores, a division of May Company, in 1973 following his graduation from Southern Illinois University and service in the U.S. Marine Corps in Vietnam. He joined Walmart in 1980 as director of audit and was promoted to vice president of loss prevention in…
Tuesday, 31 July 2012 16:16
Vector Security Rebrands to Reinforce an Updated Business Strategy
Written by Robert L. DiLonardo
For the first time in twenty-six years, the recognizable Vector Security® logo is changing its look to a more contemporary design to go along with an updated business strategy. The company's plan is to engage customers in new ways that will position the company as a leading provider of security and security-related solutions tailored to a customer's specific needs and business objectives. This positioning is expressed in a new company tagline—Intelligent security tailored for you.SM "Our updated look and strategy reinforces our commitment to several hundred thousand customers that we are constantly working to anticipate their security needs, apply new…
