North American retailers might be ready for a novel way to foil the break-in: Smoke ’em out.
Systems that rapidly flood a store with a dense, nontoxic fog in the event of a burglary are able to disorient thieves, and because they can’t see anything, they leave empty-handed. Such systems have been more widely adopted outside North America. However, that may be changing as American retailers overcome misgivings about the technology and seek ways to augment traditional security methods in the face of rising losses from shrinkage.
In 2005, U.S. retailers lost more than $37 billion to shrink of all kinds, which include internal and external theft, vendor fraud and administrative error, according to the National Retail Security Survey released in June. That’s up from a year ago, and losses from burglaries — and the higher insurance premiums they bring — continue to chip away at profits.
Zale, Helzberg Diamonds, Jubilee Fine Jewellers in Canada and Edwin Watts Golf were among North America’s early adopters of fog security to protect high-value goods in the late Nineties. (Helzberg and Zale have since removed their systems). There’s been little activity until recent months, when drug chain CVS and discount fashion chain Rainbow Apparel began testing the technology.
Fog-generating systems fall into the “shock and awe” category of security tactics designed to scare burglars away. Unlike loud alarms and strobe lights that compel a perp to grab what he can and get out fast, the fog limits loss by reducing visibility to zero, which confuses intruders and conceals the merchandise for up to two hours.
“I like the concept, especially in retail stores where you get hit once and it could cost you hundreds of thousands of dollars,” said Sven Kessler, vice president of retail operations for Edwin Watts Golf. “With us, it was very easy to walk out with [merchandise worth] $50,000 to $75,000 in a very short period of time.”
The Fort Walton Beach, Fla., chain of 49 golf shops uses technology called Smokecloak, manufactured by U.K.-based Martin Security Smoke and distributed in the U.S. by Smoke & Screen Security Systems of Innisfil, Ontario, Canada.
Rainbow Apparel, a New York chain of about 1,000 stores, uses another system that’s manufactured in Denmark, called Smoke Cannon and distributed by Protect Security Systems of America in Malibu, Calif. John Feretich, Rainbow’s director of loss prevention, said the system cost about $2,000, or about one-quarter the cost of installing a security gate at a strip center location.
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Initial concerns about fog systems are dissipating now, paving the way for broader penetration in North America. High cost, liability concerns, fear of accidental discharges and poor coordination between third parties, such as alarm companies, fire and police, are no longer the issues they once were, retailers said. Further, technology vendors have effectively documented that the systems, which emit a vapor similar to theatrical smoke, are harmless to people and won’t leave a residue on merchandise, fixtures or computers.
Joseph LaRocca, vice president of loss prevention for the National Retail Federation, said changes in how some municipalities respond to burglar alarms may fuel interest in fog security. Dallas, Salt Lake City, Milwaukee and Fremont, Calif., are among some two dozen cities that have passed a “verified response” ordinance, a policy NRF opposes.
The measure prevents police from responding to burglar alarms until after someone else confirms a break-in actually occurred. That means store employees might be the first to arrive at the scene, risking an encounter with criminals. Fog systems that force intruders to flee quickly could reduce the likelihood of that dangerous confrontation.