SHOPLIFTING

Evening Star, Issue 23038, 17 August 1938, Page 14

SHOPLIFTING

WOMEN THE GREATEST OFFENDERS I METHODS THEY ADOPT YEARLY TRADE LOSS HEAVY If honesty is one of the cardinal virtues of the human race, there are quite a number of people who cannot lay claim to possessing it in any great degree. Petty pilfering and shoplifting is just as prevalent in these so-called days of prosperity as in any period of depression. One wonders sometimes whether it is sheer deviltry and bravado, the lure of getting something for nothing when the opportunity to steal comes along, or whether it is the hand of want that reduces men and women to the level of the common thief or pickpocket. Pilfering from shops is every bit as bad as picking a person’s pocket. In. olden times it meant the hangman’s rope, or at best the hulks or transportation. Nine times out of ten, though, it is not necessity which makes a person steal. - People, women especially, in. good positions socially, and whose financial status leaves no cause for worry, descend to the level of the shoplifter. These are described as suffering from an uncontrollable impulse. But are they P Possibly there is just a modicum of deviltry behind the act—a desire to see if they can get away with it. Innumerable articles are stolen from city stores and emporiums each year by people who have no earthly use for them. They steal just for the thrill of stealing. Others pilfer goods systematically as a means of providing themselves with clothes, and it is safe to say that tradespeople are losing thousands of pounds worth of goods in this way during the course of a year. A BIG FIELD. Shoplifting is hard to_ detect, hut certain stores to-day, especially during busy periods, employ girls whose duty is solely that of keeping an eye on stock —to see that it does not “ walk.”

Drapery establishments are the biggest losers. They provide a fruitful field for the marauding shoplifter, and while a certain percentage manage to get away with the articles they have stolen, others are caught. Women love to wander through these clothing houses, inspecting garments and materials very closely. Is this tantamount to placing temptation in a person’s way P Ask any shopkeeper and he will tell you that if he did not display his goods he might just as well shut up shop. Imagine placing dross materials and_ all the dainties so dear to the feminine heart under glass. It would he the surest way to bankruptcy. Small articles, such as gloves, are not the only things that are stolen. Fur coats, dresses, and other articles of a similarly bulky nature are taken, but this work is usually carried out by the professional shoplifter. Shop managers can tell some amazing stories of women shoplifters. One classic instance was that of a woman who donned a fur coat, a fur necklet, and filled a specially prepared receptacle round her waist with all manner of articles. In all, she would have walked out of the shop with £6O worth of goods. An incident which occurred in a wellknown city shop some years ago is worth recording. A woman well known to the management was seen walking down the stairs. The manager met her, passed the time of day, as all good managers do, and was about to pass on when he noticed that the big feather boa the lady had round her neck had a price ticket still attached to it. “ Pardon me, madarii,” he said, “ there is a ticket attached to your boa.” The woman professed _ annoyance, and said apparently the girls had forgotten to take it off. “ Allow me,” the manager said, as he took out his neat little scissors and snipped off the ticket. The lady thanked him and departed, the manager nroceeding to the department concerned to reprimand the girls for their carelessness. When he ascertained the lady had not bought the boa he promptly placed its cost on her account—and in due course the amount was paid! TRINKET SETS VANISH. However, small articles are constantly being pilfered from shops today. Scents, gloves, stockings, trinkets vanish with great regularity. Trinkets often are arranged in sets—bracelets, necklet, earrings, and brooch. These are the articles young airls steal. Nor is audacity lacking. Recently in one such set the necklet vanished in one shop, and a few days later the remainder of the set. the same person coming hack to complete her toilet. Imagine a woman stealing an outfit for her small son. and then because it does not fit correctly having the audacity to come back and assert the fact and ask to have it changed for a size larger. That, too, happens. Talking of children. Some women who indulge in this sordid thieving as a regular thing have descended so low as to take a young child with them. The child carries' the bag, and into it when opportunity occurs the woman stuffs some garment. If she is detected she invariably says her-naughty little Tommy must have taken it—the bad boy.

Others work in pairs, sometimes two women, sometimes a man and a woman, and these raiders carry a suit case. They generally manage to fill it, too, incredible as it may seem. Shoe shops, too, occasionally Jose footwear, and it is not always taken from stands near the doorways. Women will go inside, try on innumerable pairs of shoes, and slip a pair under a coat. They are not missed until The attendant goes to tidy up. There is the instance of the woman who, taking shoes in such a manner, in her haste took two right foot shoes. Undeterred, she went back the next day and told the shopman. Said it was his fault, and asked for a left shoe. Needless to say, her little bluff die] not succeed. RECENT THEFTS. A few days ago quite a number of valuable articles vanished from a big city store. During the course of the “ epidemic ” a woman was seen surreptitiously placing an expensive nightdress in a bag. She then bought some small inconsequential article. When she went to pay for it the assistant, who had been advised of the theft suggested sweetly: “ Will you pay for the nightdress you have in your bag, madam, or will we charge it to your account.” The woman paid up and looked pleasant. There was also the case of a woman who pilfered a pair of gloves and then at another counter bought some trifling article. She, too, had been perceived placing the gloves in her bag. When the girl was making out the docket the departmental head came along and said to the girl And put on the account two pairs of gloves at 3s lid, Miss So staggered was Hie woman that she

replied: “ They were only 2s lid.” However, she paid! It is a notorious fact, according to tradespeople in such establishments, that one cannot leave parcels lying about. Invariably they are picked up if the unwary shopper turns his or her back for a moment. A shopkeeper told a rather humorous story relating to this class of offence the other day. A woman was shopping, and while examining some gloves at a counter placed a parcel she had under her arm upon the counter. Turning round to pick it up a moment later it was nowhere to be seen. The girls were questioned, but none Jiad seen what became of it. “Oh, well,” said the lady, “ whoever took it won’t get much It was only a packet of baby feeding bottles!” MEN AND BOYS. Women are not the only shoplifters, unfortunately. Small boys especially insofar as the chain stores are conc'erned, have a habit of lifting small articles. Some take powders and trinkets, and so far as the former are concerned, return, to the shop an hour or so later and say “ this isn’t the shade mum .wants. .Cam you, give me

the money back.” And. too, boys steal buckles—half buckles of a fancy type in the mistaken belief it is some form of brooch—and then take it back and say it was the wrong type I Are men dishonest? Yes, tool shop* suffer from the depredations of the light-fingered variety, but ■ losses from, these businesses are not so heavy as from clothing stores. One ironmonger visited during the course of inquiries told of how a certain customer who frequented the shop had a mania for anything chromium plated, be it either tool or fitment. If lying on the counter, as such articles .often are, they would vanish. Realising that prevention was better than cure, the shopman removed the glittering articles from the display counter. Since then there had been no trouble.. If shops suffer continuous raids upon their stocks by the dishonest in the community, restaurants, also are big losers each year. Go into any such; establishment of merit arid ask the proj. prietor what he loses in the way of silver-plated butter knives, and dishes,; small milk and. cream jugs, forks, spoons, and knives, and the answer would astound you. . . Assuredly human nature is sometimes beyond our own understanding. “