This time of year in New England, small businesses are at special risk from thieves looking to cash in on the busy Christmas season. To be as safe as possible owners of these businesses can take special safety precautions, including the addition of alarms, and video surveillance and monitoring solutions.

Sadly, not everyone has peace on earth and goodwill to all in mind during the holiday season. A variety of crimes increase in frequency this time of year, especially shoplifting. This is a particular threat to small business owners of all sorts — particularly seasonal businesses who have extra merchandise, personnel and cash on hand.

Small Businesses Victimized in New England

Local businesses are already feeling the pinch of holiday shoplifting. Two people allegedly looted the Wrentham Village Premium Outlets in early November. The suspects operated by entering a store or two, lifting items inside, and then depositing them in a car before returning. By the time the police intervened, the duo had accumulated an estimated thousands of dollars’ worth of booty.

Business owners in Melrose, Massachusetts, suffered a recent string of smash and grabs. One boutique and consignment store lost some 15 designer handbags (including some from Gucci and Louis Vuitton) and at least $15,000 to thieves. “It was just a nightmare,” said one Melrose shop owner. “Right before Christmas.”

Small Businesses Require Protection

To discourage or thwart thieves, small businesses worried about seasonal theft, we’ve offered some tips below (some of which we’ve borrowed from a Travelers Insurance blog):

• Think very hard about your cybersecurity, especially point-of-sale systems
• Create an inventory/facility protection plan for the season
• Evaluate all transactions daily, including voided/deleted sales to detect theft
• Install cameras in strategic places of your shop/store
• If you have cameras in place, review the footage regularly
• Take steps make sure your cameras are prominent, to deter thieves

Taking Crucial Steps for Small Business Protection

If you don’t already rely on camera surveillance, this is a great time to think about it. You can also consider implementing a commercial burglar alarm system from a proven vendor, such as American Alarm, located here in New England. You can also arrange for IP video surveillance to identify/deter thieves.

Sadly, not everyone has peace on earth and goodwill to men on mind on the holiday season. In fact, historically, a variety of crimes increase in frequency, particularly shoplifting. This is a particular threat to small business owners of all sorts — particularly seasonal businesses, such as retailers, who typically have extra merchandise, personnel, and cash on hand.

Small Businesses Victimized in New England

Already, weeks before December 24, there have been multiple detected thefts in region. Let’s start at Wrentham Village Premium Outlets in Wrentham, Massachusetts, where two people were arrested in early November. The suspects operated by entering a store or two, lifting items inside, and then depositing them in a car before returning. By the time the police intervened, the duo had accumulated an estimated thousands of dollars’ worth of booty.
In Melrose, Massachusetts, there was a recent string of retail smash and grabs. One boutique and consignment store was down some 15 designer handbags (including some from Gucci and Louis Vuitton) and at least $15,000. “It was just a nightmare,” said one Melrose shop owner. “Right before Christmas.”

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