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19 retailers line up against Visa-MasterCard accord.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Starbucks Corp. are among 19 retailers opting out of a $7.25 billion antitrust settlement with Visa Inc. and MasterCard Inc. over fees charged to merchants to process credit-card transactions. The proposed settlement would maintain and strengthen an anticompetitive system that allows Visa and MasterCard to fix so-called swipe fees for banks, the companies said Tuesday. “It would allow credit card companies and big banks to perpetuate an unfair and broken system that costs all consumers,” Mike Cook, senior vice president of finance for Wal-Mart, said in a statement. (Source bloomberg.com)

Saks Fifth Avenue Hires Goldman Sachs to Explore Possible sale.

The owner of Saks Fifth Avenue chain has hired Goldman Sachs to explore strategic alternatives, including a possible sale of the company. Saks shares surged in after-market trades to their highest levels in more than five years. Saks is expected to attract bids from big private-equity firms such as KKR and Leonard Green & Partners. It’s also likely that Saks will be shopped to sovereign-wealth funds in the Middle East and Asia, according to people briefed on the situation. Although Goldman has been retained, another source indicated that “this is very, very early in a long, long process,” and that the timing of a potential sale hasn’t yet been finalized. Some speculated yesterday that Saks could fetch between $18 and $20 a share, giving it a takeout price between $2.6 billion and $2.9 billion. Saks owns about two-thirds of the stores in its chain, and its real-estate alone is estimated to be worth upward of $1.5 billion. Indeed, some analysts have valued the company’s flagship store on Fifth Avenue at more than $1 billion. (Source bloomberg.com)

Kohl’s donates $1.5 million to Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin for safety program.

Kohl’s Department Stores has donated $1.5 million to Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin to fund a new program aimed at teaching children and families how to prevent childhood injuries. The new Kohl’s Cares Grow Safe & Healthy program, which includes a tour featuring a van stocked with interactive kiosks, stationary kiosks at places like the Wauwatosa Library and a mobile app, is scheduled to begin Friday when the van visits Chocolate Fest in Burlington. Concerned that injury is the leading cause of death for children ages 1 to 14, Children’s Hospital and Kohl’s collaborated to come up with family-friendly ways to teach parents and children about avoiding preventable injuries such as falls, poisoning, burns, choking, suffocation and drowning. The program also address issues like distracted driving and seat belt use. (Source retailingtoday.com)

Walmart and Sam’s Clubs kick off Operation Homefront, plans to hire 100,000 former veterans over the next 5 years.

As Memorial Day approaches, Walmart kicked off the first step of Operation Homefront last week in San Diego. In appreciation for our veterans of the armed forces, Walmart has made a special commitment announcing the company would offer a job to any honorably discharged veteran within his or her first 12 months off active duty through its Veterans Welcome Home Commitment. The Walmart Foundation has committed $20 million through 2015 to helping veterans and their families make the transition from the military into the civilian workforce through programs that provide job training, support and education. (Source retailingtoday.com)

Prada’s Brand Value is the fastest growing last year.

Branding is key to the success of any business, last year Prada worked to develop new ideas and concepts that elevated the Prada brand value to the highest in the industry. In 2012, the luxury retailer’s brand value skyrocketed 63%, bringing it to $9.5 billion, in the BrandZ calculation. That makes Prada the fourth most valuable luxury brand in the world, but the number one riser in any category. Its value increased more than any other brand on a percentage basis. Even though Louis Vuitton held its place as the most valuable luxury brand internationally, it still managed to see its valuation fall 12%. (Source businessinsider.com)

H&M Clothes Made in Collapsed Cambodian Factory, 23 workers injured.

A collapsing structure injured 23 workers Monday at a Cambodian factory producing garments for fashion brand H&M, the latest incident to raise concerns about regional industrial safety. A concrete and metal shelter, where workers were resting during their lunch break, fell down in the compound of the Hong Kong Chinese-owned Top World factory located in Phnom Penh. The latest incident happened just days after a ceiling Taiwanese-owned shoe factory in Cambodia collapsed on Thursday, killing two workers. (Source news.com.au)

FEMA, Federal Partners Support Response to Severe Storms in Oklahoma

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and its federal partners, including the National Weather Service, continue to closely monitor the effects of severe weather that impacted Oklahoma and other areas within the Central United States, and at the President’s direction, are providing resources to support the response. Several Federal activities are underway to support Oklahoma response. FEMA’s National Response Coordination Center in Washington, D.C., a multi-agency coordination center that provides overall coordination of the federal response to natural disasters and emergencies, to support state requests for and FEMA Region VI Response Coordination Centers (RRCC) located in Denton, Texas remains activated to coordinate any requests for federal assistance, if requested. See the official news release for more details. (Source fema.gov)

Security Managers Still Don’t Get Mobile Security

Aaron Turner, former strategist in the security division of Microsoft, worked hard for two years on a cell phone-based payment and ID system, becoming the basis for his start-up RFinity. Founding two more companies later, IntegriCell and N4Struct, he and his team are responsible for helping companies uncover risks associated with mobile technologies, and assist organizations to fight off advanced persistent threats. Upon speaking with the executive editor for CSO, Aaron talks about the new ways attackers use our cellphones for APT’s, and suspects that in upcoming years, mobile security will take hit before it can get any better. Organizations have to be more aware of rogue cell towers being near their facilities and boardrooms, since any phone, and incidentally the phone’s information, can become a slave to a malicious tower operator. (Source csoonline.com)

Chinese hackers said to have accessed law enforcement targets.

Cyber marauders sought more than just information on activists, they wanted access to FBI, DOJ investigations on spies in the U.S. In January 2010, Google shocked the cyber world by confessing it had been the target of an advanced persistent threat lasting months and mounted by hackers connected to China’s People Liberation Army. “[We] have evidence to suggest that a primary goal of the attackers was accessing the Gmail accounts of Chinese human rights activists,” The database included years of surveillance information, including thousands of court orders issued to law enforcement officials around the nation seeking to monitor suspects’ email, as well as classified orders targeting foreign subjects and issued under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. The incident set off a tiff between Google, the DOJ and FBI, the Post reported, because the federal agencies wanted to access the company’s technical logs and other information about the breach to assess the potential damage done to its counter espionage efforts. (Source sophos.com)

Tiffany’s Trojan virus spammed this morning.

Don’t let an unexpected email delivery apparently from Tiffany & Co. make you so giddy with an excitement that you end up with a computer nightmare. This morning, a Trojan virus was released with an attached ‘invoice copy’. Tiffany’s was in no way responsible for the email. (Source sophos.com)

Home Depot Product Sparks Store Fire in Prince George’s; $500,000 in damages.

Officials say a two-alarm fire at a Prince George’s County Home Depot involved patio furniture and other shelved items. Tuesday afternoon around 3:30 p.m., fire fighters responded to 150 Hampton Park Blvd. for a report of smoke inside of the building. The store was evacuated and sprinklers were used. There were no reported injuries, but the store sustained approximately $500,000 in damages. No word on when the store will reopen. (Source washingtonpost.com)

Man Claims $220,000 Filing Dead People’s Taxes.

John Berry, Jr., 42 of Dunkirk, N.Y., filed tax returns for 122 dead people between 2008 and 2009. Authorities in Buffalo say he elected direct deposit for some, and electronically collected approximately $92,000 of the total $220,000 he was seeking. Though this scheme is quite the whopper, several prosecutions and convictions for tax fraud and tax evasion occur every year. Matthew Daniels, a Grand Rapids man, simply lied on his tax return to earn himself an extra $112,000 over two years. (Source businessinsider.com)

T-Mobile in Jackson, MI the scene of an armed robbery; nearly 70 phones stolen.

Two armed men walked into the T-Mobile store in Jackson and forced the associates to the ground. Once the burglars grabbed 68 cell phones they duct taped the hands of the associates. No one was injured in the event. (Source wapt.com)

Convicted Serial Jewelry Thief now on the right track, starts “Reality Check” for teens.

Larry Lawton was not a role model, but after serving 11 years for 20 jewelry thefts, Larry is now trying to help teens take the right path in life. Lawton’s interview speaks about how he was able to case a store and know in seconds if controls were in place. (Source jckonline.com)

Surveillance Video Details Winn-Dixie Robbery & Shooting

Surveillance video shows two gunman, Jackeith Harrison and Ronald Crear, forcing their way into the building and taking store employees hostage. Officer Chad Wynne then appears with backup and later reappears shot in the chest. As officers rush the scene, the gunmen think about their next move, and are eventually are met by officers. They surrender and officers go in to pull Crear, who had been shot by officers during a shoot off. Prosecution believes it was an inside job, seeing as how they knew where to go, and the suspect is an overnight stock crew employee, Collier Kirksey. Cell phone calls just before the robbery point to Kirksey as the inside man. The trial continues for the final co-defendant in the crime. (Source wkrg.com)

Dollar General near Greenville, North Carolina robbed at gunpoint.

Deputies and officers are currently looking for an armed robbery suspect after a dollar store was robbed. Chocowinity Police Chief, M. Todd Alligood said one customer was inside along with staff at the Dollar General in Chocowinity when it was held up. Alligood said they got the call for help around 12:10 p.m. on Tuesday. While no one was injured, police said the suspect got away with an undisclosed amount of cash. (Source witn.com)

Facebook identifies the suspect of a Strong-Arm robbery at CVS in Richmond.

It only took a few day after posting the pictures of a suspect apprehended in a separate burglary at a nursing home, that he was tied to a strong-arm robbery of a CVS: apprehended with the help of social media. The Richmond Police Department took Robert King into custody after receiving tip from fans of the Department’s Facebook site. (Source richmondregister.com)

Two arrested in Monrovia, California Home Depot burglary.

Two men suspected of burglarizing the Monrovia Home Depot were arrested after allegedly fleeing officers who confronted them Tuesday. Two burglary suspects were arrested after they were found hiding under parked vehicles at a city maintenance yard. The suspects were seen attempting to steal items from the Home Depot in Monrovia and fled when confronted by officers alerted to the theft by store employees. (Source sgbvtribune.com)

New Jersey Lowe’s Assistant Manager attempting to make an apprehension held off with a Stun Gun.

The Assistant Manager had noticed the trio of shoplifters in the store on other occasions. When he noticed that the trio had purchased a mailbox and the box had been opened he attempted to stop them. During the altercation, one of the suspects drew and activated a pink stun gun. As the three suspects fled the store, the electronic article surveillance alarm did activate. No one was injured in the incident. (Source nj.com)

Goodwill Associate in Naples, Florida arrested on Felony Theft charges.

A 26 year old associate of the Goodwill store in Naples has been arrested for the theft of two laptops, DVD’s and CD’s, totaling over $900. Ingride Notoya Green now faces a felony charge of grand theft. (Source naplesnews.com)

Correction from yesterday’s news the following robbery occurred at Game Force, not Game Stop.

Reno Police are looking for two robbers of a Game Force.

A single store employee was tied up as the two armed gunmen grabbed cash and a gaming system at 6pm Monday evening. (Source mynews4.com)

eBay’s PROACT Investigative support leads to arrest of grand theft suspect and confiscation of explosive devices.

CALDWELL – A Caldwell man is in jail after police report finding several small improvised explosive devices inside his home. Officers with the Boise and Caldwell police departments found the explosives during a search and arrest warrant served on 41-year-old Troy Thomas Hinkle. Hinkle was wanted out of Boise for grand theft and burglary. BURGLARY, GRAND THEFT CHARGES According to the Boise Police Department, Hinkle is wanted on burglary and grand theft charges out of Ada County. Police say on May 2, 2013 Hinkle allegedly entered a Boise retail store and returned an empty computer hard drive box in order to obtain a refund. They also say evidence suggests Hinkle had performed the scam more than once. He’s currently in the Canyon County Jail on an Ada County Hold, meaning at some point he will be transferred to Ada County. Click here to read the full article.

New England Organized Retail Crime Symposium & Trade Show September 19, 2013

Call to Action! Speakers needed!

The seventh annual 2013 New England Organized Retail Crime Symposium and Trade Show will be held on Thursday, September 19, 2013 at the DCU Center in Worcester, MA. Over 300 retail loss prevention professionals, law enforcement professionals and legislators get together each year to talk about what ORC activity they see, how we can continue to combat the problem through detection and enforcement and what we can do to continue to push towards meaningful legislation.

This year we are seeking input from you about who you’d like to see as speakers. Have you heard a speaker that was wonderful? We are open to having retail loss prevention professionals, law enforcement or legislators participate!

We’d like to ask that if you or anyone you know would like the opportunity to speak at this leading conference on subject matter pertaining to Organized Retail Crime, please reach out to Kevin Plante, Chairman of the Retailers Association of MA Loss Prevention committee to discuss the opportunity.

Kevin M Plante, LPC
Director, Loss Prevention Reporting and Analytics
CVS Caremark, Inc.
401-770-8083 – office
[email protected]

Kroger shoplifter caught in Louisville with hundreds of dollar of videos and DVD’s

A warrant had been issued for Robert Wooten for thefts that occurred between March 26 and April 4 for the theft of 58 DVD’s and 26 Blue Rays from two different Kroger stores. The total value of the merchandise was $1782.11. (Source wdrb.com)

Holiday gas prices rise, one suspect wanted in fixing the pump; stealing 750 gallons of fuel.

The Mobil station in Union City, Georgia has been hit four times, on May 15. Eleven cars pulled up to the pump and filled up for free. Over 180 gallons of gas were stolen. The video shows one of the suspects using a tool to pry open a door on the pump. Once inside, he cuts wires to the meter that logs the purchase. Then with a swipe of a credit card he can pump unlimited gas for free. (Source 11alive.com)

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