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Penticton  

Getting Smart with security

A fed-up downtown shop has hired a new security guard after an ongoing issue with shoplifting.

SmartShopper owner Leigh Follestad estimates his shop loses about $100 per day in stolen items.

“That’s what we’re able to catch, or either find,” he said. “Even based on last year’s financial, when I analyzed everything, the number is about 100 bucks a day.”

He said shoplifters don’t discriminate in the types of items they steal from the store, which sells an array of products.

“That’s everything from groceries to sandwiches to virtually anything in the store,” he said.

The thought to hire a security guard initially came as Follestad considered hiring a security guard for the August long weekend, which he said is the shop’s busiest time of year.

“It gets absolutely crazy in the store,” he said. “We talked about it and we said, 'You know, we should really hire some security for that weekend specifically.'”

He said he then decided that it was time for the story to hire a full-time security guard.

“I said 'You know what, I think I’m at that point, now, where I need to let the people know that are stealing from me that I’m serious,'” he said. “I have to take a stand, and I have to have security in the store.”

The security guard started on Saturday.

Follestad has previously posted videos and images of shoplifters caught on his security cameras on the Internet and on his door, and said it’s had some level of success for him.

“It keeps a lot of the innocent people innocent,” he said. “It potentially makes someone who’s thinking about doing it, it makes them think twice about it if it’s not something they’ve done before.”

He said it has also helped him to resolve cases of shoplifting in the store.

“It’s helped me more than once, not only identify the people,” he said. “It’s helped me get my money back, or in a couple of cases, you know, people getting charged.”

He said it doesn’t stop all potential shoplifters, though.

“Unfortunately there’s a certain element that doesn’t care, you know, whether their pictures are on the Internet or posted on my door,” Follestad said.

He said hiring a security guard hasn’t affected his ability to staff in other areas at this point, but wouldn’t say so much for winter months, when business dies down.



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