While they only have 33 stores operating in the United States, the sports and entertainment chain called Scheels has been around for a long time… since 1902!
Employee-owned and operated, while they keep things small for a more personal shopping experience, what is Scheels Shoplifting policy for keeping their prices so low?
Friendly and welcoming to their customers, Scheels is quite aggressive when it comes to shoplifters. While they employ security standards such as surveillance footage, electronic tagging, and loss prevention officers, they also tend to prosecute more than most stores and will fine shoplifters at the very least pending charges!
This is definitely worth a closer look, so stay with us and we’ll tell you about Scheels’ shoplifting policy and why it’s so effective at keeping employee theft and shoplifting incidents to a minimum while still maintaining a friendly atmosphere!
Scheels loss prevention strategy – What we know
To understand a company’s security, it’s best to break it down into its functional components so that you can get an idea of how they work together as a whole.
In the sections below, we’ll do exactly that so that you can see how Scheels’ security profile puzzle looks when you put all of the pieces together.
Surveillance cameras
An industry standard, Scheels has security cameras just like everyone else does, and this means that someone behaving suspiciously may be watched at any random time.
This is expected, of course, but the second part of this strategy is the fact that live footage is kept and will be retained based on the corporate data retention policy.
So, the footage might be maintained for as little as 90 days to as long as a few years… although in Scheels’ case, the latter is the most likely.
That’s because Scheels is well known for pressing charges whenever they possibly can!
Don’t believe us? In 2018, the Des Moines Register actually wrote an article on this subject describing how police were receiving so many calls from Scheels, that it was actually proving to be a resource drain!
So, making it to the exit at Scheels doesn’t mean that a shoplifter has gotten away with anything, and if they are noticed and recognized as having come into the store often without buying anything or buying very little, then the manager or a loss prevention investigator might decide to review past footage to look for suspicious behaviors.
Now, while most stores send this surveillance straight to the police, Scheels is a little bit different in this regard at we’ll tell you why.
Restitution fees
When suspicious footage comes into play, a loss prevention associate may do a little investigation on their own, or they might even know the suspect’s name if they have done this before.
Finding out someone’s name really isn’t as hard as you might think – these days, everyone has a Facebook account, after all, and you can even do Google image searches if you have a good photo.
This is where restitution fees come into play and we’ll tell you something about them that’s important to know – they’re not cheap.
A restitution fee comes into play when a shoplifter is caught and made to sign paperwork agreeing to a fine in the store, but a loss prevention officer may well identify a person and attempt to send them a notice by mail, in which they are told that a fine must be paid for restitution or the matter will be brought to court.
As shoplifting can be considered a misdemeanor offense, depending on the amount, many people will pay the fee very quickly to avoid even bigger fees and potential jail time. That Des Moines Register article that we shared, if you read it, tells you where we are going next – the fees for small items aren’t going to be very small at all.
In that linked article, an individual walked out of a Scheels with a $9.99 pair of socks and was asked to pay a $100 fine.
Now, while you might think that you could argue and attempt to fight this legally, that would actually be a very BAD idea.
Loss prevention associates have to identify certain step-by-step basic behaviors to identify and determine if someone might be shoplifting. This usually includes going to the item, taking it off the shelf, concealing it in some fashion, and then leaving the store with it.
The suspect must be monitored the WHOLE time – so if a loss prevention associate is taking the time to mail you about it, then you can bet your bottom dollar that they have what they need to press those charges.
Electronic tagging
Electronic tagging is another part of Scheels’ security profile, and while we’ve found no evidence that they are employing anything fancy, such as RFID and proximity towers, the simple addition of a hidden plastic tag that is difficult to remove and will set off an alarm when you leave the store is pretty effective anyway.
They typically require a special tool to remove and if a shoplifter tries to remove it in the store, then that is going to be caught on the surveillance cameras and if it’s a knife, it had better at least be a legal knife.
In any case, this simple-cut-effective measure does its job and adds a further deterrent layer to shoplifters who want to ply their trade at Scheels.
Loss Prevention Officers and Investigators
Loss prevention officers are typically the ones who will speak with a suspected shoplifter when they are trying to leave the store.
They may or may not be plain clothed and in some cases, they might simply contact the police and just talk to you enough to stall you.
These are also the individuals who will be reviewing security footage, and if someone attempts to flee, while they won’t chase you out of the store, they might well follow to let the police know where you are while they are on their way and will probably take a photo of your license plate if you try to leave in your vehicle.
This brings us to the most common question that people ask about Scheels’ shoplifting policy – what happens is someone runs afoul of it? Let’s take a look!
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What happens if I get caught shoplifting at a Scheels?
If you are caught shoplifting at Scheels, then at the very least you will be asked to sign paperwork agreeing to pay a restitution fee within a certain time period, and if you fail to do this then charges will be filed with the police.
Once that happens, the actual charge will depend on the value of the items that were taken and Scheels has some nice, expensive items – so you could be looking at a misdemeanor that nets you an enormous fine, jail time, and possibly community service and probation when you get out.
They can also issue a lifetime ban from the store. While some stores only ban for a few months or perhaps a year, Scheels is a bit less forgiving, and lifetime bans are actually quite common. If this happens to you, whatever you do, stay away from the store.
Entering a Scheels when you have been banned is about the same as walking into a stranger’s home – you can be charged with trespassing — and as there will be security footage then you might even make it home only to get a visit from the police later to pick you up and deliver you to jail.
If you are caught and the police are called, the best that you can do is to retain a lawyer immediately and it’s best to stay quiet and polite so that you don’t make things worse for yourself.
In conclusion
Today we’ve explored the Scheels Shoplifting Policy and while it’s not the most complicated strategy, it is extremely effective at keeping shoplifters away. With surveillance cameras recording all of the time, along with security tags, and loss prevention officers, it’s already a decent deterrent.
Once you add in that getting caught is 100% guaranteed a large fine or an actual trip to jail, and that those loss prevention officers check footage all the time to catch shoplifters unawares, then sensible shoplifters quickly realize that shoplifting at Scheels is much more trouble than it’s worth!.
So, now you know how Scheels keeps their prices so low and their environment so friendly – they’re kind to customers, but they don’t cut shoplifters ANY slack at all. It’s hard to argue with something that works!