Employees accused of gift card scheme
Three Louisiana Walmart employees might have misunderstood the advertising slogan “rollback” to mean free for the taking. During the Black Friday sales, Walmart offered a $300 or $400 gift card for customers purchasing cellphones. Stacey Jae Dishman, 33, of Lafayette, was the employee at the Southside store responsible for creating those gift cards for customers, police said. She also created a few more cards that had nothing to do with cellphone purchases, police said. She’s accused of creating cards that totaled $2,600 that were unrelated to the promotion.
One of those cards was given to another Walmart employee Jourdon Lee Dalton, 24, of Lafayette, police said. Dishman was arrested Friday afternoon at the Walmart store on Veterans Memorial Parkway. She is charged with felony theft, according to police. She bonded out of jail later that day. Dalton was arrested Friday at the store, too. Officers, however, issued Dalton a summons to appear for a charge of theft.
In an unrelated Southside Walmart theft allegation, one of the store’s cashiers, Abigail Renee Lane, 19, of Lafayette, is suspected of skimming cash out of the drawer, according to police reports.Between Nov. 6 and Nov. 24, Lane lightened Walmart’s cash drawers by $840, according to police report. Lane was arrested Friday morning at her home and preliminarily charged with felony theft, according to police.. [Source: Journal & Courier]
LP associates viciously attacked by17-year-old girl
A 17-year-old girl has been arrested in connection with a vicious attack on two Macy’s employees who tried to stop her and another female from allegedly stealing items from a store on Long Island, New York. Police say the girl and that unidentified female walked into the department store at Green Acres mall, grabbed merchandise and tried to leave. Two loss prevention associates stopped them and were taking them to the LP office when it escalated.
According to police, the two suspects started kicking and shoving the Macy’s workers. The 17-year-old allegedly took a cellphone from one employee and punched the side of her face, as the other suspect pushed that same employee to the ground and started kicking and punching her over and over again.
The employee, a 37-year-old woman, dropped her security radio during the struggle. Police say one of the suspects picked it up and ran off with it, along with the stolen merchandise. The 17-year-old suspect stayed at the scene and was arrested; police are still looking for the other person but have yet to identify her. The victim suffered pain to her face, ringing in her left ear and dizziness. Anyone with information about the robbery is asked to call local authorities.  [Source: NBC4 New York]
Employees reveal who are the best retailers to work for in 2019
Retail work isn’t always easy, but some companies provide a better environment for employees than others. Glassdoor just ranked the best places to work in 2019. Eight retail companies made the job site’s list this year, accruing average scores on Glassdoor well above the site average of 3.4
Glassdoor also provided Business Insider with seven additional companies that just missed out on the top 100 rankings. A Glassdoor spokesperson confirmed that none of the scores indicate ties, as the ratings go beyond the thousandth decimal place.
Here are the top retailers to work for in 2019:
15. LUSH North America
14. Ralph Lauren
13. Publix
12. Wawa
11 Best Buy
10. Nike
9. REI
8. Discount Tire
7. Costco Wholesale
6. ABC Supply Co
5. Wegmans Food Markets
4. Nebraska Furniture Mart
3. H-E-B
2. Trader Joe’s
1. Lululemon
LP associate punched during robbery
A Stockton, California, department store’s loss prevention associate was injured Tuesday when she tried to stop two men from stealing merchandise. The Stockton Police Department reports around 10 AM, two men entered a store on Pacific Avenue near West Yokuts Avenue and picked out several pieces of men’s clothing.
When the men began to walk out without paying for the items, a loss prevention associate tried to take the clothes back. One of the men punched her in the face, according to the police department. The associate sustained a cut to the inside of her mouth. Now officers are searching for the men involved in the robbery and have asked anyone with information to call them at 209.937.8377, Detective Howard at 209.937.8532 or Crime Stoppers.  [Source: Fox40 News]
Prolific perfume thief swallows bag of weed
Police suspect an Arkansas man swallowed a bag of marijuana in attempt to hide evidence when they allegedly caught him shoplifting from a mall in Memphis, Tennessee, Verdell Reel is accused of shoplifting five perfume bottles from the Dillards at Oak Court Mall Wednesday afternoon.
He was allegedly confronted by officers outside the store minutes later after a sales associate noticed him acting suspiciously. Police searched his handbag and say they found the bottles, along with a small bag of marijuana. According to an arrest affidavit, Reel put the bag in his mouth and swallowed it before officers could take him into custody. He allegedly told them they couldn’t prove it was marijuana. Reel was checked by a paramedic, who told police he wasn’t hurt by swallowing the bag.  [Source: News Channel3]
‘Cashless’ brick-and-mortal retailers may be banned
A measure that would require all brick-and-mortar retailers to accept cash was unanimously approved by the New Jersey Senate Commerce Committee and will now go before the full state Senate. The bill, which was overwhelming approved by the state Assembly in June, excludes retailers inside airports from the cash requirement, and also excludes sales made online and by telephone or mail. New York City and Philadelphia are also reportedly considering banning cashless stores.
Under the NJ bill, businesses would receive a $2,500 fine for a first offense, and $5,000 for a second. Subsequent violations would fall under the consumer fraud act, which can carry penalties of up to $20,000. Critics of stores that don’t accept cash say such businesses effectively discriminate against poor customers who might have credit cards or even bank accounts and older consumers who are wary about using credit cards or mobile commerce.
According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, Amazon and some other major retailers have raised concerns about the legislation. Amazon operates a cashless Amazon Books store at Garden State Plaza mall, in Paramus, NJ. Only one state, Massachusetts, has a law banning cashless stores.  [Source: Chain Store Age]