San Francisco hardware store requires customers to shop with an employee escort to stop shoplifting
The store manager said the policy was an attempt to make thieves 'uncomfortable'
Fredericksen Hardware & Paint, a generation-old home improvement store in San Francisco, is being forced to provide a staff escort for each customer as theft threatens the business. (KTVU)
A store in San Francisco is reportedly requiring customers to shop with an employee escort in a bid to stop theft.
"It’s pretty bad," Sam Black, manager of Fredericksen Hardware & Paint in San Francisco told KRON4. "I mean, the dollar amounts are pretty significant, and with the tools and now we’re getting snatch-and-grabs when they take whole displays, so it’s getting kind of dangerous for the employees and the customers."
"We just want to make it uncomfortable for the thieves so they go somewhere else," Black said.
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A store in San Francisco is reportedly requiring customers to shop with an employee escort in a bid to stop theft. (Getty Images)
KRON4 revealed a sign that the store posted for customers that explained the new employee escort policy.
"Due to the rampant shoplifting, Fredericksen has introduced a one-on-one shopping experience: wait here and a clerk will be right with you to help you with all your shopping needs," the sign tells guests.
"We want to make it uncomfortable for the thieves so they go somewhere else," he said.
The report showed images of pots and pans that are drilled down to keep criminals from stealing items off the shelves.
"Yeah, people aren’t happy," the store manager said. "The regulars can’t believe it like we can’t believe it, but they’ve been really understanding."
"We just had to do something," Black added.
San Francisco Mayor London Breed. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images / Getty Images)
"This situation is tragic and embarrassing for our city, and it’s all the more reason to get serious about solving our police staffing crisis," San Francisco supervisor Catherine Stefani said in a press statement. "We need more police on our streets, and we need them now. That’s why I’ll hold a series of hearings in March to push our city agencies to fill the hundreds of vacancies at the Police Department as soon as possible––to stop the bleeding, reverse the damage, and finally protect our residents and small businesses."
Political officials in San Francisco, particularly Mayor London Breed, have faced criticism as election season heats up.
Businessman and former San Francisco interim mayor Mark Farrell recently spoke to the New York Times about his upcoming mayoral race against Breed, detailing how the city has fallen apart under Breed and how he wants to put it back together by hiring more police and holding homeless people and drug addicts accountable.
"I’ve watched San Francisco crumble over the last five years. Public safety has never been a bigger concern. The conditions of our streets have never been worse. Our local economy has collapsed. And we’ve become the butt of jokes across the country," he said.
Stefani's office did not respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.
Fox News' Gabriel Hays contributed to this report.
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