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   From: yourdime@outlook.com   
      
   Retail giants have always had to deal with petty theft, but a growing   
   trend of organized retail crime is now not just eating into company   
   profits, it’s threatening the safety of workers.   
      
   “It’s a big problem for retail,” Home Depot (NYSE:HD) CEO Ted Decker told   
   CNBC’s Squawk Box. “This isn’t the random shoplifter anymore.”   
      
   The home improvement retailer has faced the loss of two employees — Gary   
   Rasor, 83, and Blake Mohs, 26 — who were killed during separate theft   
   incidents over the past year.   
      
   Just last month, the Miami Herald reported a Florida pastor was arrested   
   and is accused of organizing the theft of roughly $1.4 million worth of   
   goods from numerous Home Depot locations in the state.   
      
   Organized retail crime and theft are growing in both scope and complexity   
   across the country, according to a study from the National Retail   
   Federation (NRF) — to the extent that former Home Depot CEO Bob Nardelli   
   recently described it as an “epidemic … spreading faster than COVID.” The   
   NRF also estimates theft is costing the retail industry about $100   
   billion.   
      
   What’s behind this alarming trend?   
   Theft at Home Depot stores has been “growing double-digit year over year,”   
   the retailer’s VP of asset protection, Scott Glenn, recently told ABC   
   News.   
      
   “More and more we’re seeing the risk being brought into the stores, and   
   people being hurt or people even being killed in many cases because these   
   folks, they just don’t care about the consequence,” Glenn said.   
      
   Home Depot isn’t alone in experiencing an uptick in organized retail   
   crime, which the National Retail Federation defines as the large-scale   
   theft of retail merchandise with the intent to resell the items for   
   financial gain.   
      
   About 70% of retailers believe the threat of organized retail crime has   
   increased over the past five years, according to the 2022 National Retail   
   Security Survey.   
      
   To reduce the risk of theft and other crimes in its stores, Home Depot has   
   started locking up high-value items, some of which Decker says may   
   surprise customers.   
      
   “They’re not all big — they’re not all power tools and generators. You can   
   have a circuit breaker — [worth] $50, $60, $80 — those are all high-theft   
   items.”   
      
   When asked if Home Depot would have to shutter certain stores — following   
   the footsteps of other retail giants — the CEO says the retailer has so   
   far managed to avoid that.   
      
   However, Decker says the company is increasingly concerned over the safety   
   of their employees and customers. As a result, they’ve invested more in   
   security guards, more lighting in their parking lots and recording towers.   
      
   “It’s not a place in retail that many of us thought we would be,” he said.   
      
   Read more: How can I stop the pain and make money in this nightmarish   
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   Avoiding stolen goods online   
   When it comes to organized retail crime, “a lot of this product is [re-   
   sold] on online marketplaces,” Decker said.   
      
   To counter this, the retail giant has been working with local, state and   
   federal governments to help them understand the problem and come up with a   
   viable solution.   
      
   Late last year, Congress passed the INFORM Consumers Act. The act requires   
   online marketplaces to collect, verify and disclose certain financial and   
   identifying information from “high-volume third-party sellers” — those   
   with more than 200 transactions and $5,000 in revenue in a 12-month   
   period.   
      
   INFORM Consumers, which took effect June 27, aims to increase the   
   transparency of online transactions, while also deterring criminals from   
   using online marketplaces to sell stolen, counterfeit or unsafe items.   
      
   Decker said he’s “super happy” the bill passed as “it’s going to make   
   those marketplaces vet their sellers.”   
      
   In the meantime, the big-name retailer must continue “to manage” its theft   
   challenges and cope with the “pressure on [its] gross margin,” the CEO   
   added.   
      
   https://finance.yahoo.com/news/were-investing-more-security-guards-   
   133000754.html   
      
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