At a Wisconsin river town, just large enough for the Census Bureau to label as a big city, a group of us 60-something women hit the bar scene. Between jobs, families, and moves, it’s sometimes hard to get together and catch up. Tonight was our night.
We found an open table close to the front door inside of a popular establishment. We were there early. That’s what our age group does.
But as the night wore on, an employee who looked the part of a bouncer grabbed a bar stool and planted himself just inside the front door. My first thought was that he was taking cover for a band that night. Except there wasn’t a band scheduled to play. Or maybe he was going to check IDs to make sure patrons were of legal age to purchase alcohol. But that was the bartender’s job. Nobody was stopped at the doorway to produce identification.
Regulars who knew the man shook his hand, fist bumped or high-fived him as they walked through the door. He gave those he didn’t know a curt nod.
He was a “Walmart greeter,” without the smile.
Then someone darkened his doorway that shouldn’t have. The bouncer sprang from his perch and, with his chest, pushed the other man into the door frame. With his face inches from the other, he growled, “Get out.” And he did.
Ah. I was blind, but now I see. The guy’s only job was to identify past troublemakers and keep them out of the bar. I guess at this establishment if you start a fight or destroy property, you forever lose your right to enter the bar again.
Seems fair.
There are “reserve the right to refuse service” laws on the books. Obviously, it doesn’t include discriminating based on sex, race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, sexual orientation, citizenship, primary language or immigration status.
But you can still throw out jerks. Being a jerk is not a protected status.
Retail stores could use bouncers, too, to keep out repeat offending shoplifters. Being a thief is not a protected status either.
Some stores will hire a security guard, but it’s not quite the same. Security guards and bouncers both follow the law, but bouncers have an edge to them and are a little more unpredictable. Jerks and thieves don’t like that.
Cities everywhere are dealing with repeat retail theft, but New York City made a name for itself when Mayor Eric Adams announced that about 300 individuals, in a city of 8 million, were responsible for a third of shoplifting crimes. And just 25 stores accounted for 20% of all shoplifting complaints by businesses.
The same people are hitting the same stores, over and over again.
These businesses need Wisconsin river town bouncers at the door. Or just hire the best bouncers from area night clubs to do day gigs at these stores.
Retail theft affects everyone—the businesses being ripped off and losing income, employees who lose their jobs when businesses must close due to rampant theft, the federal government’s decreased withholding tax revenue from those lost jobs, senior citizens whose social security payments depend upon withholding tax revenue, shoppers who pay higher prices to offset theft losses, insurance companies that must pay out losses on a claim, other customers of insurance companies who will see their premiums rise to cover those claims, law enforcement that is already stretched too thin, state and local governments that see a drop in sales tax revenue due to stolen and not purchased items, and citizens who benefit from services provided by sales tax revenue.
The Chamber of Commerce reports sobering statistics: 100 billion in annual retail shrink, 39 billion in lost wages, 14.9 billion in lost federal, state and local tax revenue, and 46% of businesses increase retail prices to offset theft. Organized crime plus serial shoplifting equals huge economic consequences.
Maybe one good bouncer at every door of every retail establishment could change the world.
He wouldn’t be able to stop large-scale assaults—a flash mob of smash-and-grabbers. But while those incidents garner a lot of media attention, it’s more often the criminal activity of individuals who have no fear and brazenly walk off with merchandise that continuously and relentlessly chips away at a store’s profitability.
Know who’s coming into your store. Refuse to serve the troublemakers.
Even California’s Unruh Civil Rights Act states, “The law clearly distinguishes between the right of a business to refuse service based on conduct as opposed to personal characteristics. The misconduct or disruptive behavior of particular individuals may be grounds for refusing to do business with them.”
Let a bouncer tell those particular individuals to get out. Forever.
Moving the Conversation Along 