It's a real old-school store just FILLED with everything you could ever need. I bought whatever we needed for the apartment there. It's a real treat just wandering through the place, but it sounds like those days are over.
Posted on 02/23/2024 4:38:46 PM PST by Twotone
A San Francisco store is no longer allowing customers to roam around and shop without being escorted by an employee in an attempt to stop “rampant shoplifting,” according to a report.
Fredericksen’s Hardware and Paint in the city’s Cow Hollow neighborhood has put up a sign announcing that during certain hours it will be taking customers only one at a time to curb the incessant thefts.
The shop is blocking off part of the store’s entrance and corralling shoppers in a waiting area until an employee is able to help them, KRON4 reported.
“Attention shoppers,” the sign reads. “Due to the rampant shoplifting, Fredericksen has introduced a one-on-one shopping experience: wait here and a clerk will be right with you to help you with all your shopping needs.
The store’s longtime manager, Sam Black, told the outlet that while the move could be a nuisance to customers it was worth trying for the sake of the business and its employees.
He said the shoplifting is the worst it’s ever been in his 24 years working at the business in the Golden Gate City, which is grappling with surging crime.
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
cries of racism in 4...3...2...
This might actually speed things up as they will know exactly where everything is and people won’t spend the majority of their time hunting down items or an employee who doesn’t know where the item is either.
Those ole timey grocery stores, where they bring the product to the front after you have paid for it is going to come back.
” attempt to stop “
Yup ...that’s what I want to see ...
do you think some of those folks will care if there is an employee beside them?
What are they going to do? Ask them nicely to stop?
crazy times....
When each and every customer needs a one to one Babysitter (during certain hours), it’s time for this store to consider closing or moving to a better location. One of these two choices, whether you have to break the property lease or not
It's a real old-school store just FILLED with everything you could ever need. I bought whatever we needed for the apartment there. It's a real treat just wandering through the place, but it sounds like those days are over.
So what is the employee escort supposed to do when the escortee picks up an arm load of merchandise and heads for the door? Is the escort supposed to tackle and waylay the perp?
This is what San Fransicko gets for decriminalizing shoplifting and defunding the police.
I just looked up the demographics of Cow Hollow. It doesn’t look like it has changed that much since I lived there 50 years ago:
White - 74%
Hispanic - 11%
Asian - 9%
Other - 5%
Black - 1%
It looks like maybe the Hispanic population gas grown a bit, but not a huge amount.
” it’s time for this store to consider closing or moving to a better location.”
Well, it would have to be the former. This hardware store is smack dab in the middle of one of the ritziest shopping districts in San Francisco. There is no “better” S.F. location. This store is a mere block or two from the shops/restaurants owned by Gavin Newsom and his gazillionaire bankrollers such as the Getty family.
“Hey, these plastic ties are too tight.” “Sorry, I’m new at this shopper’s escort job. I used to work at a juvenile lockup across town.”
Big question: A supermarkets like Korger’s in this region they often have totally empty full service checkouts and long lines of people doing U-scans. Not enough employees or the company is too cheap to schedule them.
So how can you serve more than a half dozen escorted customers an hour, if that?
A supermarket like Krogers.... Sorry.
In the pillaged, drug fueled Zombie Wasteland that is Mayor Breeds San Francisco of 2024, terms like “better or best” have become low rungs on the ladder of quality.
How low can these rungs go? How deep can you dig?
“consider closing or moving to a better location”
Cow Hollow IS one of the better locations in SF. High incomes, moderate crime, very unaffordable, about 100% Dem.
Wiki —> “Cow Hollow is a generally affluent neighborhood located between Russian Hill and the Presidio and bordering the Marina District on one side and Pacific Heights on the other. The land was used for cow grazing (as its name would imply) and a settlement for fishermen (the coastline was much closer to this area than it is now). The main shopping thoroughfare is Union Street, known for its restaurants, boutique shopping, health spas, and wellness centers.”
The store could be made appointment only. Require customers to download and use an iPhone-only app to make the appointment. The app should not be free but cost $5, be English only, and use big words to navigate the appointment making process. All purchases must be made with a credit card, with no cash, debit, or EBT accepted. While initially annoying, customers could be offered free Pumpkin spice lattes and would soon come to appreciate the new retail shopping experience.
The sketchier parts of Eastern Europe still do that. Everything is locked in back and you give your order to a clerk who gets it all.
The sketchier parts of Eastern Europe still do that. Everything is locked in back and you give your order to a clerk who gets it all.
“So what is the employee escort supposed to do when the escortee picks up an arm load of merchandise and heads for the door? Is the escort supposed to tackle and waylay the perp?”
that’s why tandem-door man-trap entrances/exists need to be added to this scheme ... easy to video those entering and easy to trap those who might try to abscond ...
This reminded me of the movie Hot Fuzz. The proprietor should have the door locked & just buzz people in ONE AT A TIME. That should cut down on a lot of the retail theft.
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