Today’s jewelry retail landscape is a complex one to navigate. Margins aside, retailers find it necessary to exercise more diligence than ever with keeping their goods and their employees safe.
There are many types of thefts circulating today, demanding retailers stay vigilant. Various tactics seem to be operating in clusters regionally. So, throughout the US, jewelers are increasing their risk management techniques.
Smash and Grab
Southern California experienced a slew of smash and grabs this past year. In September 2023, the Irvine, CA police department reported a brazen noon time smash and grab at Jewels by Alan Fine Jewelry. 3 masked men descended – in broad daylight – on the store while customers were inside, smashing 12 showcases before running off with nearly a million dollars in jewelry.
“I was standing there, watching these two women on the floor,” said Alan Oskouian, owner of the jewelry store. “They [robbers] jump over them and broke the glass case and glass is showering over them. I was just so worried they’d be in bad shape.” Police believe this trio is responsible for a string of similar brash heists.
Oskouian’s story was no anomaly. “About 10 percent of the more than 400 jewelry store owners and managers who responded to a question about crime in INSTORE’s 2023 Big Survey said they experienced a smash-and-grab robbery,” reported an April 2024 InStore article covering the trend.
Good as Gold
Along the Eastern Seaboard, retailers have experienced mounting frustration by off the street ‘customers’ who try selling fake solid gold since gold prices have skyrocketed. These scams even extend to seniors in their home – something hard to grasp. A few weeks back, Maryland police arrested Brooklyn, NY resident Zhenyong Weng who successfully convinced a senior citizen to fork over nearly a million dollars in exchange for fake gold bars which he claimed would prevent Russia from confiscating her hard earned assets.
It’s so Distracting
All over the country, but especially in the Midwest, independent retailers have experienced distraction thieves working a store who sidetrack the staff and quickly nab jewelry from behind a case. In some instances, they swap cheap look-alike jewelry for the store’s real thing.
Jewelers’ Security Alliance (JSA) has been reporting these types of thefts for years now. According to the crime prevention watchdog, it’s risen to pandemic levels. JSA confirms that highly organized groups of Roma thieves are targeting stores by swooping down en masse. One distracts the salesperson, while others stand look-out. When the staff is distracted, one reaches behind the counter to steal items.
Bait and Switch
Another way – a little more complex – is the switch method. After pretending to consider something for a long time, like a large, pricey solitaire ring, the sleight-of-hand thief swaps it out for a worthless look-alike they brought with them. The group continues their distraction tactics so the salesperson may not realize they’ve been duped until they’ve fled the store.
Surprise Response
Omaha, NE based Sidrony Jewelers owner Garrett Peddicord was the wrong person that one bad guy picked for an after hours break in. Peddicord, an Afghanistan military veteran is routinely armed at work – particularly so when working after hours on bench jewelry projects. Seeing a huge rock fly through his store’s front window on security cameras, he did what he was trained to do. He raced out from the back with his weapon drawn. The would-be robber who mistakenly thought the store was empty became terrified and made a panicky getaway. “Thank my lucky stars I’ve placed so much thought and time in repetitive training and practice, into how to responsibly carry a gun,” Peddicord recalls.
Prevention is Best
Thankfully innovative security tactics are evolving faster today than the bad guys can steal. These creative high-tech means keep jewelry businesses safe while protecting their staff too.
Density USA provides technology driven active protection for myriad situations warranting a rapid response against intruders. Density explains, “Average police response to a burglary is 6 minutes. In 6 minutes, a burglar can take valuable merchandise and escape before the police ever arrive on the scene. With the Density System, an intruder cannot see anything to steal! The only option is to run for the exit!”
Density Fogging Systems are harmless, but they create a dry dense smoke-like fog with near zero visibility. “It’s designed to be dense and disorienting – burglars can’t steal what they can’t see,” Density says.
What’s Best
When asked about the best security measures for a retailer, many jewelers have simply chimed in with “use a man trap.” This security method utilizes a 2 door system positioned at the entrance (and exit) of a store and effectively restrains someone you don’t want to enter the premises – or to run out.
Another jeweler reminds us to ask for a customer’s ID at the counter. Legitimate consumers of high ticket items understand the vulnerability a retailer faces and shouldn’t balk at the request. Fake customers will.
Burglary resistant glass helps thwart the smash and grab gangs.
Innovation at Work
GAL Interiors has been exhibiting their “up and down” cases at trade shows lately. Besides making store closings easier at night, the cases can quickly descend into the base, thus protecting the jewels, during store hours.
Big ticket items are ideal for using the Asset Tracking software. This technology has become even more advanced today and offers excellent tracking of physical items. It is made to detect and track an item in transit or if stolen in a robbery or burglary. Thus it’s indispensable to help thwart criminal activity.
Designing Security into a New Build
Jeweler Amber Gustafson, of Amber’s Designs, Katy Texas is currently designing a multi-level stand-alone store which she says will mirror a residential property. The idea behind that is to provide a welcoming space for customers to enter and spend time, something essential to creating a comfortable space for clients considering luxury goods.
Central to her new store’s plans and security is a large walk-in vault. Cameras facing in and outside provide the staff with a greater awareness of their surroundings.
She’s commissioned several 6-sided steel display cases which are remotely operated and synced to shut down simultaneously.
Strength in Community
Finally, developing a sense of community with other retailers is a vital tool for supporting security. Diamond dealer at Olympian Diamonds, Aleah Arundale, launched Jeweler’s Crime Alert Facebook group. The 7,000+ current members regularly engage on social media to share prevention tips, and report attempted or recent crimes in their store. Images captured on surveillance cameras offer essential evidence to alert retailers to potential thieves and help law enforcement with arrests.
Arundale says she’s happy that the group’s efforts are paying off. “We’re better together. We’re safer together. Wouldn’t you want to know if your neighbor was robbed and you’re next on the list?”
