NASHVILLE, Tenn.—Despite speculation that the worst of the recession is over, many retailers continue to experience an uptick in theft, even at stores that were not previously thought to be ideal targets for organized retail crime. 

“In the past we were not on the radar screen of professional shoplifters,” said Bill McParland, director of loss prevention and risk management for Kirkland’s, a specialty retailer of home décor items with more than 280 stores. Recently, however, “we’ve seen an explosion in theft at our stores from a more professional standpoint.”

Not only are there more instances of ORC, but those incidents have become more confrontational. “We’ve actually seen an increase in shoplifting and more people using bold and brazen tactics to the point of confrontation and just loading up their carts and walking out the door and then challenging our employees,” he said.

Because of the increase and shift in theft, McParland said Kirkland’s has had to change its employee training strategies to prevent loss. “We train employees to prevent it rather than catch it,” he said. “There’s not anything we sell that’s worth anyone getting hurt for.”

But it’s not just outright theft of merchandise that threatens to be the largest amount of loss. “We just had a rash of gift card thefts bought with stolen credit cards and we were able to jump on it and stop it before they used them, but we’ve seen a big uptick in that, too,” he said. Stolen gift cards can prove to be more profitable, and easier to sell, than merchandise.

Staying on top of the latest trends in crime is critical to preventing loss and especially important as Kirkland’s looks to expand its business by opening up its site to e-commerce. “That’s a whole other learning curve and we’re working with our business partners to make sure we’re opening an Internet portal that makes it easier for our guests to make purchases, but we’re locking it down properly to prevent or minimize the theft that comes through that avenue,” he said.

McParland, who has been with the organization for eight years and in loss prevention for more than 20, said that one of the most drastic changes he’s seen over the years is the amount of information being communicated among retailers. “Retailers used to keep hush-hush about loss and what they had been a victim to,” he said. “Now they’ll drop a note that this group just hit us for ‘x’ amount of dollars and give a vehicle description. Loss prevention professionals are realizing they might have different names on the stores, but they’re operating in the same environment and if one can catch [these criminals] inside their doors and get them off the streets, then it will benefit all retailers in that area.”