ROYAL, Michigan (CBS DETROIT) — Retailers across the country are taking action against shoplifting, including a small business in Royal Oak.
Julia Manzella is a buyer at Rail and Anchor, an eclectic shop in Royal Oak. She says the small business began noticing declining profits and missing merchandise a few years ago, and took action.
“To stop the theft, we had to put money back into the store,” Manzella said. “So we spent thousands of dollars on a security system.”
The store began posting photos and videos of shoplifters on social media in an effort to catch the crooks.
“Now we find the people and they don’t come back,” Manzella said. “We’re actually taking a stand on it.”
Bloomberg reports that retail giant Target is also taking a stand. The publication cited company insiders as saying that Target had instructed employees to lower the threshold for confronting shoplifters from $100 to $50.
“Maybe that will help solve the problem if big companies like Target take a stand,” Manzella said. “But it’s also going to take a lot of local agencies to prosecute repeat offenders.”
“I’ve had a lot of friends close their businesses because of this problem,” Manzella told CBS News Detroit. “But we’re not a small pot shop and they can’t just take advantage of us. We have to keep the doors open and we have to build a business.”
Target had not responded to requests for comment from CBS News Detroit as of this article’s publication.
