Retail organized crime up 8% - Tampa Bay Business Journal:

nazariomuibepu1687.blogspot.com
And, nearly three-fourths of retailerd reported the level of organized crime has increasex by 11 percent over thelast year. “Organizedx retail crime rings have realized that tough economixc times present new business opportunitiex by stealing valuable items from retailers and turning aroundr to sell the merchandise to consumerx lookingfor bargains,” said Joe LaRocca, NRF senior asset protection adviser, in a news release. Forty-two percentr of retailers say that, even as the economy has forcedc them to cut staff and do morewith less, they allocatin more resources to battle In fact, the average retailer reported spending $215,000 a year just on labo r costs to fight crime.
Six percent reportef spending morethan $1 million a year to battle retai crime. When asked how they woulsd rank organized retail crime as a threart totheir company, nearlg one-third of retailers gave organized retailo crime a “four” or “five” rating, identifyinf the problem as severe or significant. On retailers gave organized retail crime a ratingof 2.87 on a five-pointf scale. The survey, conductesd last month, targeted loss prevention executives from 115 including department, discount, drug, restaurant and specialty retailers.