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 ...
This changes nothing. Since in the end the customer can still push the cart right out the door without paying.
25 dollor gallons of milk
As a very young man in college, I worked midnights in a c store. One night I observed a guy concealing a bottle of wine. Dummy that I was, I called the cops and locked the thief and myself in the store to await police. Unbeknown to me, the guy had a ball peen hammer up his coat sleeve. After threatening me he proceeded to bust out glass of the door and ran off. The hammer could just as well been a gun. I learned my lesson about locking myself up with criminals.
When we visited Russia several years ago, went shopping with the family ... at a candy store we went in door with security guard. All the goods were behind counter. Picked out what we wanted, clerk weighed it out and gave us a ticket then clerk walked it up to the front where we paid for it. Only then did we have the goods in our hands.
Would be sorry to see US stores end up like that. Every store and restaurant had security.
I’m just old enough to remember one of those in a small town. You went up to the counter, told the clerk what you wanted, he went to the shelves to get what you wanted, came back, you paid and left.
The idea of wandering through the aisles to get what you wanted for yourself was a real innovation. People much preferred it, but back in the late 40s most people didn’t try to steal and if they did and got caught, they’d be punished. Things have obviously changed.
In Costa Rica at the supermercados, they have several employees in each aisle to help you find what you want. And big guys at the door to make sure you paid for what you got.
Ohio used to do that in their state-owned liquor stores. They might still, for all I know.
“where they bring the product to the front after you have paid for it”
Never heard of that.
It’s how it used to be done.
Right until the 1980’s there was a store by my grandfathers in Lac La Nonne that operated like that.
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/4f/d0/38/4fd0381e0f8639fe159c6aaf2deb342a.jpg
That photo shows items already up front and does not show customer paying before seeing the merchandise.
It doesn’t show the customer doing anything, other than talking to the shopkeeper. But that’s how it used to be done.
I take it you’ve never shopped at an independent hardware store. Most employees are very knowledgeable about what they sell and where it’s located.
I work for a manufacturer to the hardware trade as a product knowledge expert/ trainer.
” But that’s how it used to be done.”
I won’t ask for your source since probably no source exists.
I’m sure there were slight differences, depending where you were from. However, I am not certain of the reason that you see this as worthy of an argument.
well, that’s the beauty of a tandem-door mantrap: the perp enters the inner door of the mantrap, the trap is sprung and both the inner and outer door of the mantrap are locked until the cops arrive ...
Punishing the 99% for the acts of the 1%.
So I walk around a store, supervised, and then just walk out with my items without paying.
What are they going to do? It’s what people are doing anyway.
It’s a lawless town.
This won’t end well.
But of course, given Frisco, I suppose that’s a given.
The last one near me went out of business a few years ago. Homo Depot and Lowelifes drive them out of business.
“However, I am not certain of the reason that you see this as worthy of an argument.”
Not arguing. I only posted that I han never heard that. If you had ignored my post that would be the end of it. Instead, you sent a link to a irrelevant photo as if it supported your earlier post.
I sent you the photo as a reference point of how it worked. You entered the store and paid for your order and you would wait while it was filled for you.
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