Column: Everett boutique owner shocked by rampant shoplifting

By Kylie Sabra

Guest columnist

I have never shoplifted in my life — not even as a child.

It simply never occurred to me to take something that was not mine.

I am new to retail and I absolutely love my new life. Running ReFresh Boutique allows me to engage my artsy tendencies as well as my planning and logistical skills. I’ve lived a protected life I suppose. My professional career was in corporate marketing and communications where I dealt with a microcosm of humanity. I now find myself exposed to a far wider range of personalities, and most of them I enjoy immensely.

Then, there are the issues.

I remember how heartsick I felt the first time someone stole from me. It was an all-to-common occurrence.

I’ve been able to reduce much of the theft problem by adjusting security cameras and rearranging the store to remove blind spots and closely observing people with large bags, coats, purses and the like.

It is an exhausting proposition and sadly reduces my ability to relax and enjoy my customers.

I worked hard to create an experience that should be fun for both of us.

The dressing rooms pose another problem altogether. Once a customer enters, there is no control over what happens. I’ve seen it all too often. A customer leaves quickly, and by my count has absconded with one, two or even more pieces of clothing. The frustration is, again, heart rending.

My brain would flood with questions without answers. “Why would they steal food from my family’s table? What have I done to deserve this? This is just small-town America after all, right?” They aren’t stealing from “the man” or some big corporation. They are stealing from me, an arthritic-ridden, near-60-year-old just trying to make a living that will support me into retirement.

There is no insurance coverage for the daily grind of petty theft. The burden falls squarely on the small business owner struggling to make ends meet.

I began a progression of loss prevention ideas — most of which were met with resistance or even outright anger from customers.

I remember feeling those watchful eyes myself as a shopper and I took a look back at my own actions.

Now that I’m on the other side of the counter, I realize that my carrying a huge purse or backpack into a shop was not creating an ideal experience for the shopkeeper.

At one point, I posted a notice at the front door; which drew some laughs, some frowns and a wee bit of compliance, but in the end I removed it.

The sign showed a name tag that read, “Hello My Name is Amy. I am shoplifter. Until shoplifters wear name tags; please leave large purses, shopping bags, large coats … at the register.”

While the sign was amusing, I came to realize, after much research, that it was far more accurate than even I imagined.

Later I put a sign in the dressing room stating that no bags were allowed. That too proved to be useless as shoppers would just ignore it. Occasionally I get the rare shopper who will approach me and say, “Kylie, can you hold on to my bag while I shop?” Or, “I have four items I’m taking into the dressing room,” being very careful to show them to me. I swear I just want to go to the floor and kiss their feet, and I do thank them profoundly for being aware of the issues shopkeepers face. I sat down and took a look at the problem sans emotion — not easy to do. Here’s what I learned from The National Association for Shoplifting Prevention:

■ There are approximately 27 million shoplifters (or one in 11 people) in our nation today.

■ Men and women shoplift about equally as often.

■ Approximately 25 percent of shoplifters are kids.

■ Many shoplifters buy and steal merchandise in the same visit. Shoplifters commonly steal from $2 to $200 per incident depending upon the type of store and item(s) chosen.

■ Shoplifting is often not a premeditated crime. 73 percent of adult and 72 percent of juvenile shoplifters don’t plan to steal in advance.

■ Approximately 3 percent of shoplifters are “professionals” who steal solely for resale or profit as a business. These include drug addicts who steal to feed their habit, hardened professionals who steal as a lifestyle and international shoplifting gangs who steal for profit as a business.

■ The vast majority of shoplifters are “non-professionals” who steal, not out of criminal intent, financial need or greed but as a response to social and personal pressures in their life.

■ Most non-professional shoplifters don’t commit other types of crimes. They’ll never steal an ashtray from your house and will return to you a $20 bill you may have dropped.

As you can see from the statistics above, the problem is monumental and it has no face. I’ve seen secretaries walk out with items. I’ve seen senior citizens do the same. In fact, as the statistics above bear out, the “average” gal is more likely to be a shoplifter than the “fringe” lady.

Honestly, I have no desire to babysit bags of any size. However, I had to come to terms with the fact that I needed to protect my inventory — my livelihood.

There is no particular demographic for a shoplifter, and I simply will not use profiling as a tool for loss prevention. Instead, I had to find a solution that works to protect both me and my customers.

I’ve settled on a low-tech loss-prevention plan that makes sense. Everyone — no exception — takes a numbered tag into the dressing room that matches the number of items and then return the items and the tag to the front desk.

I sincerely hope customers understand that I am not accusing them of being a shoplifter; but, statistically, neither can I take the chance that they aren’t. Who knows, maybe one day those pesky shoplifters will wear those darn name tags.

Kylie Sabra opened the women’s resale clothing store, ReFresh Boutique, at 2829 Wetmore Ave. in Everett earlier this year. She can be reached at 425-303-3311.