Sign In Subscribe
Culture February 25,2024 | Independence Journal Editorial Team

Store Makes Customers Shop With Escort Amid ‘Rampant Shoplifting’

A San Francisco store has enacted a new policy requiring customers to have escorts while they shop in an effort to rein in “rampant shoplifting.”

For two hours each morning and two hours each evening, Fredericksen Hardware and Paint places a table at the front of the building where customers will be required to wait until an employee is able to serve them, according to a report from local news outlet KRON4.

The sign on the table blocking access to the store states: “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 your shopping needs. We’re sorry for the inconvenience!”

Fredericksen Hardware and Paint’s manager, Sam Black, explained to the outlet that the intention behind the new shopping method is to make the environment as uncomfortable as possible for potential thieves — as they have created an unsafe work environment for employees and an unsafe space for customers.

“It’s pretty bad,” the manager told KRON4. “I mean, the dollar amounts are pretty significant, and with the tools and now we’re getting snatch-and-grabs when they take whole displays, so it’s getting kind of dangerous for the employees and the customers.”

Black went on to note that the new system has been in place for three weeks and they intend to evaluate its effectiveness after a month.

KRON4 also spoke with supervisor Catherine Stefani, who represents the neighborhood where Fredericksen Hardware and Paint operates. She told the outlet that the fact that this experiment was necessary is outrageous and further proves the need for San Francisco legislators to “get serious” about dealing with the crime problem — calling for the government to hire more police officers to patrol the streets.

“This situation is tragic and embarrassing for our city, and it’s all the more reason to get serious about solving our police staffing crisis,” Stefani told KRON4. “We need more police on our streets, and we need them now. That’s why I’ll hold a series of hearings in March to push our city agencies to fill the hundreds of vacancies at the Police Department as soon as possible—to stop the bleeding, reverse the damage, and finally protect our residents and small businesses.”

The crime epidemic in San Francisco, and California in general, has gotten so bad that many iconic stores have closed their doors. The closures include three Target stores in or near San Francisco, as well as the store that inspired the film “Toy Story,” which closed roughly two weeks ago due to crime after operating for 86 years.

Please leave your comment below!

*