Reply #16: I did.

[Pab Sungenis]

When I worked in retail there were a number of different tells you could use to spot a potential shoplifter:

* Large, loose jackets, especially during warm weather.
* Carrying in large, firm (usually paper) shopping bags. Especially if from a store not in your mall.

Those two are dead giveaways to watch the person.

You also learn which habits to spot from shoplifting teams: the spotter, the distraction, the stacker, and the lifter in your typical pro team.

When you start seeing suspicious behavior, or people that are likely solo lifters, you give them the ABSOLUTE BEST customer service you can! You engage them in conversation, you push them to buy product, you ask them questions, and if you let them alone you stay nearby and look their way regularly. Nine times out of ten they will leave and go find an easier store.

And, yes, I racially and socially profiled. In our business (music retail) the average shoplifter was a 14 year old white boy. They got customer service out the wazoo.

It doesn't stop all shoplifting, but it prevents most of the potential shoplifting.