Retail Reckoning: Store Closures Surge 67% as Inventory and Inflation Collide

Retail is undergoing a seismic shift, with nearly 6,000 store closures by mid-2025—up 67% from last year—driven by inflation, pandemic overexpansion, online competitors, and mounting debt. Big names like Macy’s, CVS, and Party City are scaling back, while small retailers struggle to stay afloat amid rising rents and falling foot traffic. Yet even as stores vanish, value-driven chains like Dollar General and Aldi are expanding rapidly, meeting consumer demand for affordability. This isn’t a slump—it’s a full reset, signaling a future where adaptability, efficiency, and price sensitivity define the new retail landscape.

TalkLPnews

AI For Retail: How These 18 Tools Are Reshaping Modern Retail In 2025

Artificial Intelligence is revolutionizing the retail experience from end to end—enhancing personalization, streamlining inventory, and automating repetitive tasks. From smart fitting rooms to predictive restocking, AI delivers insights that help retailers stay ahead of both customer expectations and supply chain disruptions. These innovations aren’t just futuristic—they’re now essential tools for remaining competitive in a fragmented retail ecosystem. The future of retail belongs to those who can turn data into experience.

OfficeChai

Industry Influencer Q&A: How AI Will Completely Change the Security Experience

AI is poised to redefine the security experience, enabling real-time decision-making through intelligent video analytics, automated alerts, and advanced threat detection. These tools don’t just record—they interpret, predict, and adapt, giving security professionals new power to prevent incidents before they occur. As threats grow more complex and resources remain tight, AI becomes a force multiplier. The security conversation is no longer about surveillance—it’s about strategic foresight.

Security Info Watch

Looters Break into South LA AutoZone (AGAIN!) During Street Takeover

A street takeover in South Los Angeles quickly escalated into chaos when looters stormed an auto parts store, causing major property damage and prompting a police response. Events like these highlight the rising threat of coordinated flash thefts that can cripple businesses in minutes. Community members and law enforcement alike are demanding stronger measures and faster interventions. As retail theft evolves, so must the strategies to protect vulnerable locations.

My News LA

HR Exec Gone Wild: Who is Kristin Cabot?

Astronomer HR executive Kristin Cabot was thrust into the spotlight after being caught on Coldplay’s “kiss cam” in an embrace with then-CEO Andy Byron, prompting both to be placed on leave. The viral moment triggered scrutiny, particularly because Cabot appears to be married to Andrew Cabot, CEO of Privateer Rum and a descendant of one of Boston’s oldest elite families. Byron later resigned, while the scandal put a fresh spotlight on the Cabot family’s legacy, tracing back to Revolutionary War-era privateering and rum distilling. 

FOX Business

You Got Replaced. Now What?

Ryan Bauss

Vice President | TalkLPnews

comments@talklpnews.com

There’s a quiet trend that’s been sweeping through the loss prevention industry and if you blink, it might just look like corporate whack-a-mole. But look a little closer, and you’ll see something else.

One by one, long-standing LP executives - seasoned, specialized, committed - are being shown the door. And in their place? Operators. They’re not LP experts, or threat analysts, or asset protection strategists. They’re operators. Trusted ones. Handpicked from the C-suite’s inner circle. People who know just enough about LP to be dangerous.

And guess what? They’re in charge now.

They don’t have your background. They don’t know your playbook. But they have one thing you don’t… a seat at the table. If you're one of those LP leaders still sitting safely in your corner office, sipping chai tea, and polishing up the latest ORC PowerPoint, I hate to say it, but: you might be next.

The industry reacts the same way every time this happens.

We gasp. We rally. We write long, tearful LinkedIn posts about institutional knowledge being “vaporized” with a single swing of an HR sword. We say things like, “He built that program from nothing,” or “She was the best leader we had.”

And all of that might be true. But let’s not pretend we don’t understand what’s happening. Your organization didn’t restructure. It made a statement, “We don’t respect you the way you thought we did, we don’t see your skill set as essential, we don’t think you speak the language of the business.” And guess what? They’re not wrong.

You may be saying, “whose side are you on?” There are no sides, just circumstance and missed opportunities. Take a moment to raise up the mirror. When was the last time you ran a store? Managed a freight team? Balanced sales goals with scheduling constraints? Do you know what a conversion rate is?

You’ve spent decades mastering your craft from investigations to crisis management and product protection to risk analysis. Unfortunately, none of that matters when you’re talking to an executive team obsessed with one thing: sales.

Because here’s the math:
There is no calculus where shrink reduction is prioritized over a revenue increase. You could prevent $500,000 in loss with one strategic move, but if that move risks even a fraction of sales, guess which one wins? The operator wins. Every time.
So what now? Do we pack up our Vineyard Vines polos and quietly fade out of relevance?
No! We evolve. Not in theory. In practice.

You want to preserve your seat? It’s time to rethink your approach. Forget what you know and start fresh.

I'm not saying apply for the next Store Manager opening (you're grossly unqualified, by the way). I'm saying go to a store. Shadow a front-end supervisor. Stock with the grocery crew. Bag some groceries. Yeah, I said it… Bag. Some. Groceries.

Do it because it’s what no one expects you to do. Especially during holiday selling, when store teams are stretched thin and corporate know-it-alls are comfortably “supporting from a distance.” That’s your window. Show up, help and listen.

You want to build credibility? Change perception? Speak the language? Then you better learn the dialect first. And in retail, that dialect is math. Not LP math. Not exception reports. There’s only one equation: Sales. That’s it.

Everything else is negotiable. Sales are the lifeblood.

And if your idea of impact doesn’t speak directly to the P&L, then your message is noise.
Static. A foreign language spoken at the wrong table. I know this is hard to hear. I know it doesn’t feel fair. But the moment you were replaced, the message was clear: They didn’t think you got it. So now you have a choice: Prove them right. Or start learning the language of those who took your place and show them you speak it even better.

Welcome to the inner circle. The language is sales. The currency is credibility. And the next move? It might be against the grain, but that’s on you.

Whether you're clapping or cringing, don’t keep it to yourself. 

Thieving mob scatters at O.C. jewelry store owner’s warning shot

An Anaheim jewelry shop owner sent more than a dozen would-be thieves scrambling when he fired off a warning shot as they were attempting to break into his store, surveillance footage shows.  

The July incident occurred just before 6:30 p.m. at Al-Amira Jewelry, located at 570 South Brookhurst Street, according to the Anaheim Police Department.  

KTLA5 News

Suspect taken into custody after hiding in rafters at Mall Target during standoff with police

A suspect has been taken into custody following a lengthy standoff at the Target store in Mall 205 in East Portland. Police could be seen escorting the person out of the Target just after 4 p.m., more than six hours after police were first called to the store.

In a news release after the standoff ended, the Portland Police Bureau (PPB) East Precinct officers responded to a call about a disturbance with a weapon at 10:29 a.m. Monday.

KGW8 News

Support Grows for Grassley’s Combating Organized Retail Crime Act

News Release - Grassley

Safe and Open: Rethinking Retail Loss Prevention

Retailers today face an impossible-sounding mandate: reduce rising shrink, ensure employee and shopper safety, and do it all while preserving a frictionless, welcoming experience. But for many, the solutions that aim to stop theft have created a new kind of barrier—one that drives away customers, frustrates employees, and makes stores feel more like fortresses than places to shop.

At Gatekeeper Systems, we believe loss prevention and positive customer experience can—and must—coexist. Our suite of intelligent theft prevention technologies, led by our Purchek® pushout theft prevention solution, is designed to do just that: create safer stores that remain open, efficient, and welcoming to shoppers.

The Safety Challenge Is Real—and Growing

At APEX, we’re putting the spotlight on a question every retailer should be asking: Is your vendor just a vendor... or something more? This session dives into what separates a transactional relationship from a true strategic partnership. Are they bringing innovation, value, and a vested interest in your success?

Don’t settle for surface-level support. Register for APEX now! Space is limited.

California’s Underground Shoplifting Economy Sparks Call for Tougher Laws

California is facing a retail crisis that runs far deeper than the occasional shoplifter. According to a recent investigative report, an entire underground economy is flourishing—built on mass shoplifting and fueled by online platforms that unknowingly (or indifferently) facilitate the sale of stolen goods.

Far from petty theft, many of these crimes are highly coordinated. Syndicates organize daily theft operations, often exploiting legal loopholes created by California’s Proposition 47, which reclassified theft under $950 as a misdemeanor. Former prosecutor Brian Harnick explains, “You can steal every day and never face jail time.

NBC News

Four Plead Guilty in RI to Scam Using 15,000 Credit, Debit, and EBT Cards

Four foreign nationals illegally present in the United States have admitted to a federal judge in Rhode Island that they participated in a scheme that compromised more than 15,000 credit, debit, and Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) cards and that they made hundreds of thousands of dollars in unauthorized bank withdrawals and retail purchases, announced Acting United States Attorney Sara Miron Bloom.

According to the Department of Justice, the defendants admitted that they used credit card “skimming” devices to steal debit and credit card users’ personal financial account information, which they then appropriated for their own use.

GoLocalProv News

Blue Yonder study names top three priorities for supply chain strategy

The top three strategic priorities for supply chain leaders are implementing new technology (51%), improving efficiency and productivity (40%) and building more resilient supply chains (29%), according to a market study from software vendor Blue Yonder.

Those priorities not only answer immediate operational challenges, but also position organizations to adapt more swiftly to external pressures, ensuring their resilience and competitiveness in an unpredictable landscape.

DC Velocity

Organized Retail Crime Investigator - TJX

The Organized Retail Crime Investigator joins a fast-paced, constantly evolving environment that partners with store operations to resolve high level external theft. As a part of the National Task Force, the ORC Investigator takes sophisticated cases head-on through establishing proven partnerships with store and Loss Prevention leadership, local, state and federal law enforcement agencies. This position is responsible for assisting with a strategy to combat organized retail crime and external theft across all TJ Maxx, Marshalls, HomeGoods, HomeSense, and Sierra locations within an assigned market..

Top 10 Workplace Safety Trends & Innovations [2026]

SmartUs Insights

Smart Locks Come of Age

Once thought of as expensive hi-tech deadbolts, smart locks are now living up to their promise of providing convenience, connectivity and scalability, all while giving security professionals more options to offer at the door, and end users more opportunities to get their return on investment – and then some.

SIW