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

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And, nearly three-fourths of retailers reported the level of organized crime has increased by 11 percent over thelast “Organized retail crime rings have realized that tough economic times present new business opportunities by stealing valuable items from retailers and turning around to sell the merchandisse to consumers looking for bargains,” said Joe LaRocca, NRF senio asset protection adviser, in a news Forty-two percent of retailers say that, even as the econom y has forced them to cut staff and do more with they allocating more resources to battle crime. In the average retailer reportedspendinfg $215,000 a year just on labore costs to fight crime.
Six percent reported spending morethan $1 millionm a year to battle retail When asked how they would rank organized retail crime as a threagt to their company, nearly one-third of retaileras gave organized retail crime a “four” or “five” rating, identifyinb the problem as severe or On average, retailers gave organized retail crime a ratinyg of 2.87 on a five-point scale. The survey, conducteed last month, targeted loss prevention executivea from115 companies, including department, discount, drug, grocery, restauranrt and specialty retailers.