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A downtown Denver business owner is taking a new approach to make up for the money lost to shoplifters, KMGH reports.
Derek Friedman, who owns several Sportsfan and Sock Em Sock Emporium locations in the Denver metro area, announced a "Denver Crime Spike Fee" on Sunday (January 30). They'll start charging this fee in February.
"That'll be a 1% transaction fee for all of the items that are purchased in our stores," he explained. "There's zero consequences, I think, for property crime in the Denver area. It seems like it's dropped to barely anything."
Friedman claims that shoplifting at his stores has tripled since 2019, forcing him to find a way to recover thousands of dollars in lost revenue. Not only have these crimes affected profits, but also worker retention.
"We're talking about six figures [in losses] for a really small business like us, and that is meaningful. It impacts our employees, and, more importantly, it now is going to impact our shoppers," Friedman explained. "When you have the impact of having someone come in and wander around the store and then grab a jersey and a hat and pull out a machete and walk out, it does have an issue with your ability to recruit and retain employees."
Despite this, the business owner hopes that law enforcement and city officials will come up with new solutions to crack down on these crimes.
What do you think about the 1% fee at these stores?