Winona Ryder's conviction may put shoplifting in spotlight

HACKENSACK, N.J. -- Winona was not a lone rider.

Winona Ryder's conviction Wednesday for stealing $5,500 in merchandise from a Beverly Hills department store put shoplifting in the spotlight, but the problem has been growing for years, said Dan Butler, vice president of retail operations for the National Retail Federation, a Washington, D.C.-based trade association.

As the nation's economy has been sinking, shoplifting by employees and outsiders has been increasing dramatically over the last two years, costing retailers and the buying public an estimated $10.23 billion last year.

That is an increase of more than 21 percent from the $8.45 billion in 2000, and this year's figures could be even higher because shoplifting historically increases whenever there is a "tight economy," Butler said.

It's a "very big problem," said Richard Santoro, an assistant vice president of the New Jersey Retail Merchants Association. Shoplifting figures "never go down in a poor economy."

Consumers pay price

Losses hit the stores' bottom line, but "consumers pay the price," Butler said. Not only will they be forced to pay higher prices to cover the losses, but they will also find less service in stores forced to devote more resources to loss prevention, he said.

In addition, shoppers end up paying for the increasingly sophisticated devices used to prevent thefts and for the legal costs to prosecute offenders, Santoro said.

Shoplifting is a major concern at stores of all types, from the biggest discount chains to the smallest mom-and-pop shops, Butler said. Even supermarkets are feeling the effects, with executives of Pathmark and A&P recently telling analysts that "shrinkage" -- the industry term for losses, including theft and spoilage -- was a factor in lower earnings this year.

"Supermarkets operate on small profit margins, so shrink directly affects your bottom line," said Rich Savner, a spokesman for Carteret, N.J.-based Pathmark Stores Inc.

No one profile

The arrest of the wealthy Ryder highlights the fact that there is no single profile of a shoplifter, Butler said.

"It's important to remember there are different motivating factors," he said. "Some steal to support a drug habit, some are in difficult financial straits, and other people may have mental issues that are causing them to steal."

Some thefts are by employees, and those can be costlier than when an outsider is involved, because they "can do more damage quicker if they find ways to defeat your systems," he said.

On the other hand, stores often uncover inside pilferage because thieves leave paper trails, he said.

Stores invest heavily in surveillance cameras, electronic tags, and other devices to thwart shoplifting, but the thieves counter in attempts to beat the system, such as the scissors Ryder allegedly brought to the store to snip off the electronic tags.

Others are more creative, such as the four men charged in June with stealing $10,000 in merchandise from a CVS drug store in Ramsey, N.J. When arrested, they were found with shopping bags lined with tin foil to beat anti-theft devices, police said.

That arrest featured something that is of increasing concern for store owners: organized rings of thieves.

"They move in a very methodical way with those foil-lined bags and other well-thought-out schemes," said Todd Andrews, a spokesman for Woonsocket, R.I.-based CVS. "It's something we work very hard to combat every single day, including being aggressive in catching and prosecuting them."

A high-profile case like Ryder's helps because it "illustrates that retailers are really adopting a zero-tolerance policy when it comes to shoplifting," Butler said. "Retailers want to get the message across that shoplifting -- by anyone, at any time -- will not be tolerated."

Ryder, a two-time Academy Award nominee, was found guilty of felony grand theft and vandalism, but was acquitted of burglary, after a shoplifting spree last year at a Saks Fifth Avenue store. The actress could receive up to three years in prison, but the prosecutor said she would seek probation, community service, and restitution when Ryder is sentenced next month.