Things continue to go downhill in much of California, with crime now so out of control that one store is requiring customers who enter the store to stop and wait for an employee to chaperone them through the store. That new policy is meant to cut down on rampant retail theft and the immense losses the store was suffering from shoplifting.
Such is what KRON 4 News reported in a segment on the situation, showing footage of the store requiring customers to wait and saying, “For a few hours every day, this is what you’ll find entering Fredriksson Hardware and Paint . . . The table alerts customers to wait for assistance at the door, a move that’s being attributed to quote, ‘rampant shoplifting.'”
The clip then showed an interview with store manager Sam Black, who told the news outlet, “It’s pretty bad. I mean, the dollar amounts are pretty significant. And with the tools and now we’re getting Snatch and grabs where they come in and take hold displays, so it’s getting kind of dangerous for the employees and the customers.”
Explaining how the system works, Mr. Black told KRON 4 that for two hours in the morning and evening, a store employee will go through the store with an individual customer to shop for goods. The table that stops customers from freely walking into and moving about the store serves as a way to stop potential thieves from freely rushing into and robbing the store.
Predictably, customers can’t stand the system, even if they’re understanding about why it is in place and so put up with it for that reason. Mr. Black said, “People aren’t happy. The regulars just they can’t believe it. Like we can’t believe it. But you know, they’re been really understanding.”
KRON 4, noting why the store has to rely on its own self-help measures rather than police, noted, “Black says he and his staff had to try something because they had not much success getting help from city leaders or the police. At this point, the one on one shopping experiment has been going on for three weeks. Black says they’ll review the results after a month.”
Watch the report here:
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The paint and hardware store isn’t the only California retail center to require chaperones due to problematic levels of crime. Now, a mall, Torrance’s Del Amo Fashion Center, has announced that minors will not be allowed into its premises after 3 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays in response to massive youth brawls in the shopping center.
Simon Property Group, which owns the mall, said, “We are committed to providing a pleasant and family friendly shopping environment for all of our guests.” It continued, “The program is in response to feedback from the community and community leaders, as the center reinforces its commitment to the community to provide a pleasant, family friendly shopping environment.”