Protect that cheddar!
August 29, 2007 | Filed Under Opinion and Commentary | One Response
I believe in buying from small and local businesses, but I am making an exception for the grocery store that made the front page of the Enterprise on Tuesday, July 17. Their hard-line shoplifting policy with its mandatory $100 fine and court appearance was the fourth and final straw. The other straws?
- When I asked last winter if they would broaden their small selection of cheeses, I was told that they’d offer more choices when tourists and second homeowners arrived. (So it’s processed orange cheddar for you and me, hapless residents!)
- The one time that I wrote a check, I was asked for identification, a first in my five years of supporting Livingston businesses.
- When I bicycled to this store for groceries with a small backpack to carry purchases, I discovered that I was supposed to check my bag at Customer Service before shopping. I was told that it was a necessity and had to be applied to everyone. That is, every one of us should be treated like someone who might steal a block of processed orange cheddar.
I suggested to the manager that the dangers to his profits implied by these overly protective policies was surely not so great that the store would sacrifice the friendly and trusting atmosphere that is a hallmark of Livingston life. This point was so completely lost on him that I felt a chilling sense that I didn’t live in a small town anymore. Folks in town went ga-ga when this store opened last October, but I wonder how they feel now that we’ve seen the store’s Bozeman stripes. (But without the selection of cheeses that Bozeman enjoys, I’d bet. )
Albertsons has never asked me for identification, or to check my canvas shopping bag. Ditto for Foodworks, The Gourmet Cellar, and the Farmers Market. Albertsons also judges shoplifting cases one by one. It seems that it is possible for a business to grow without disrespecting local values and people. Having had a retail business in town, I’m aware of the risk of theft and the impact on the bottom line. Personally, I felt it was far better to create a warm, welcoming, and neighborly atmosphere than it was to guard every dollar with a suspicious eye and a hard line of blanket policies.
The shoplifting policy described in the Enterprise article with its ‘guilty until proven innocent’ rule is overkill for 17 thefts in 9 months. According to the reported observations of Judge Bailey, some of the folks making the mandatory court appearance (at a cost to them of $90) 
are elderly people who also purchased groceries and had unaccounted for food worth less than $5. Apart from some humiliated seniors who might just possibly be innocent, the victim of this trend of hyper-vigilance is our sense of community. “(Stealing) hurts everyone in the community,” says the store manager. Maybe, although I don’t see the connection unless he means that the processed cheddar will soon cost more. I can’t help but think that treating everyone who walks through the door as a potential thief (check that bag at the counter! let’s see some ID! step away from the bulk bin!) hurts everyone in the community far more. Sure, there are real thieves in the world, but denying everyone a friendly atmosphere, a fair chat, and a level of trust will corrode our small town values faster than you can say “rude driver on a cell phone cut me off in traffic.”
I do my grocery shopping only at Albertsons now, and, as usual, use Foodworks and The Gourmet Cellar for specialty items. I can’t risk the repercussions of absentmindedly sampling a grape, and I’d rather spend that stiff fine money on something that might put food in the hands of the poor and elderly. Moreover, I won’t shop where obsession with profit trumps community values.
Why not have a face-to-face chat with the store before condemning the shoplifting policy? Well, I’ve tried that small town approach already without success, and I simply had to put into place a three-strikes policy to protect my valuable time. After all, I’ve got a business to run.
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I’m glad to see this, Lynn. I’ve definitely been thinking about those policies when I shop there, and I think your stand is a good one. For me, shopping with a 3-year-old, the potential problems are huge. Of course I teach my son not to take food from the bulk bins and to put everything we’re buying into the cart and onto the conveyer, but let’s face it–preschoolers don’t always listen. And while I would certainly take seriously anything he did that even remotely resembled stealing, I also have a pretty strong remembrance of being unable to resist the temptation of a piece of Brach’s candy from the bins at Buttrey’s when I was about his age. When I got caught the one and only time I did it, I had to go apologize and give back the candy. I can still remember how bad I felt. If Connery were to have to learn the same lesson from T&C, it might be in court. Ludicrous.