Where Do All The Purses Go?

Where Do All The Purses Go? It is a fact that one of the main items that are stolen in retail stores are the purses.

First I have to tell you about all the that I have come in all the time who bring shoes and purses that they plan on buying. The purses have to be left out with me, but shoes can be taken in to try on with the clothes. Of course, many people just pick up some shoes that are like the ones that would be worn with the clothes they are trying on. Many times they just want to see how the dress or pants look with that type of shoe and/or purse before they make a decision on the clothes they want to buy.

I can understand wanting to know how a dress looks with a certain heel height or jeans look with a certain style of shoe. But when they bring in a pair of thongs (the ones worn on the feet) with a swimsuit I start wondering about how far does a sense of style go?

Then there are the women who bring in 5 to 10 different purses (and carrying them all instead of getting a cart), throw them on the floor and proceed to check out how they look in the mirror. Is the purse too big or too small? Does it hang too far down or does it look too short? Does it make them look too short or too heavy? I never realized other women went to such lengths to make sure they got the right purse. Of course with purses and handbags costing what they do today I suppose there should be more care in which one we buy. Many purses cost more than one complete outfit does. And now a purse is bought many times to complete an outfit, not just to wear as an everyday accessory.

And why am I letting you know how important purses can be to the shopper? In our stores purses have become one of the main items for theft. It has become such a costly item as far as loss to the store that now we censor almost all of them. And for the more expensive ones we now have a new censor that looks like a bike lock, definitely making the theft of a purse much more difficult and much more uninviting to the thief. Wallets and belts are also two of the main items most stolen on a regular basis. We censor all wallets and all belts no matter what the price.

I do not know what the numbers are but I do know that with the economy the way it is today the stores have become much more aware of doing anything they can to prevent loss in the stores. A lot of money is spent just on devices bought and people employed to prevent theft or catch the thief in the act. But still so much does end up getting stolen anyway.

Stealing is the reason we are so aggressive in the fitting room as that is one of the main theft areas. Checking clothes on the way in and making sure the same amount of items come out. Many people tell me they have only 8 items which is the max they can take at one time. But then when actually counted it could be 10, 12 or even more. Many places just take peoples word for the count but we actually have to have the clothes hung and count them ourselves. I know it can be an inconvenience, but it is also an inconvenience to the person working there also. When we get busy and there are people coming in and out it takes a lot of our time to count and check each item every person has. Many times people just walk right out because they do not want to wait which I can understand. I just wish that they understood that this is part of my job. I am not doing it to be mean or make it harder on them.

I just would like all the shoppers to know all these things we do to try and prevent theft is actually to help them out. If we can keep theft down then we can keep prices down. But the more stuff that is stolen, the higher the prices will go. No one wants to raise prices if it can be helped but the loss has to be made up somewhere.

So in conclusion, please be aware that all these things we do are not to inconvenience anyone or makes things harder for the shoppers. They are done to make it easier and keep prices as low as possible. Sometimes when people get upset about having to take the time to do this, I just show them that it really does not take that much longer. Sometimes I will try to joke about it and tell them that we will make this as painless as possible or try to lighten up the moment and most of the time it does work.

So thanks for taking the time to read In The Fitting Room With A.J. today.