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•Case Study: A Helping Hand With Loss Prevention

Everyone knows that shrink ranks at the top of retailers' list of major headaches. A portion of shrink stems from less-than-savory employee practices, such as over-rings and unauthorized returns. Some is a result of theft by customers — and the list goes on. Wilsons Leather knows this all too well, but unlike many other merchants, it is addressing the problem with a solution centered on outsourcing.

Headquartered in Minneapolis, Wilsons is the leading specialty retailer of leather outerwear, accessories, and apparel in the United States, with about 413 mall, outlet, and airport stores in 43 states. It was this wide geographic distribution that sparked the merchant's first thoughts of approaching loss prevention from beyond its four walls.

"Outside of a few major markets, we didn't — and don't — have the high concentration of stores that would make it practical for internal staff to be assigned to different clusters and to manage cases properly," explains Russ Edwards-Simpson, director, human resources and loss prevention. "For us, outsourcing was not a cost-savings measure; it was — and is — all about managing our business more effectively."

In spring 2002, Wilsons started looking for a loss prevention management partner. The retailer investigated several vendors, eventually opting to sign on with LP Innovations (LPI) of Milford, MA. Edwards-Simpson says the scope of LPI's services, coupled with its ability to address the complete breadth of Wilsons' business issues as they related to loss prevention, clinched the deal.

Click Here To Download:
•Case Study: A Helping Hand With Loss Prevention