A San Francisco hardware and paint store placed a table to block entrance to shoppers with a note instructing them to wait for a store employee to accompany them because of rampant crime.
Fredericksen Hardware & Paint in San Francisco has been plagued by incessant shoplifting. The store is located in the Cow Hollow district, which is described this way by compass.com: “Cow Hollow is one of San Francisco’s most well-known and desirable neighborhoods, featuring world-class boutique shopping, a diverse housing market and easy proximity to recreation and work. Blessed with quiet residential streets and ample entertainment opportunities, Cow Hollow sits atop the wish lists of a variety of San Franciscans, from new families to long-established members of the city’s upper class.”
“Please wait for assistance. Thank you,” the paper on the table at Fredericksen states. “Attention shoppers: 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. We’re sorry for the inconvenience.”
“It’s pretty bad. I mean, the dollar amounts are pretty significant. And with the tools, and now we’re getting snatch-and-grabs, when they come in and take whole displays, so it’s getting kind of dangerous for the employees and the customers,” store manager Sam Black stated to KRON 4, explaining that the store had to take such measures because police and local officials were not helping them sufficiently.
Black said two hours every morning and two hours every evening an employee will work with any potential customer. “We just want to make it uncomfortable for the thieves so they go somewhere else,” Black said, adding, “People aren’t happy; the regulars, they can’t believe it. We can’t believe it. But they’ve been really understanding.”
“We had to do something,” he concluded.
The store has been implementing the current procedure for three weeks; Black stated that the store will review the results after one month.
Black said that in the 24 years he has worked at the store — which was founded in 1896 — the theft has been the worst he has ever seen. Pots and pans have been drilled into fixtures to keep them from being stolen. Locking systems have also been installed.
San Francisco store now making customers shop with employee escort to stop 'rampant shoplifting' | “We just want to make it uncomfortable for the thieves so they go somewhere else."
(📺: @kron4news) pic.twitter.com/FTdCteA6zc
— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) February 25, 2024