Re: Why Do Stores Keep Dvds Under Lock and Key?
 

I tried to buy an ink cartridge that was locked up once. The only person around was the woman at photo counter. She call on the store loudspeaker for someone several times and no one ever came back. I waited about 15-20 minutes since she kept apoligizing and was cute. I finally left though and bought the PC at Target down the street

Then there was the time they started locking up razor cartridges up by the check-out counter. I figure go to the register where the RC are locked up and this person will have the key......NO! They kept calling for the manager/whatever to come to the front. After about 10 minutes she appears. She has a key chain with lots of keys and it takes her like 5 minutes to open it up.

Re: Why Do Stores Keep Dvds Under Lock and Key?
 

Maybe if we cut off the hands of the thieves caught stealing that causes the practice?....Just saying.

Re: Why Do Stores Keep Dvds Under Lock and Key?
 

I'm sure Blockbuster appreciates your business -- no matter what location you choose. :)

Re: Why Do Stores Keep Dvds Under Lock and Key?
 

I think the best way to go about it is to have the large clear security shells over the case. You can't get the disc out, but you can still handle the case to look at it, and see the price. The lock and key is really a pain.

Re: Why Do Stores Keep Dvds Under Lock and Key?
 

Then you need people to continually put new stock into the plastic cases, though... and then you can't scan them anyway. And they'll take up a lot more shelf space.

Personally, I kinda liked the old Toys R Us method of tickets with a wall of laminated sheets, showing the front and back covers of each game (though I'm sure updating that and keeping them in alphabetical order was also a pain).

Re: Why Do Stores Keep Dvds Under Lock and Key?
 

Yup. Also would like to add that many stores are using different kinds of security cases/protection because of the various sizes of DVD's nowadays. Many are very pricey, including stores that have Blu-Ray security cases as the Blu-Ray cases are thinner than your normal DVD cases (obviously).

Also from personal experience, it's a pain in the ass to un-sticker and sticker Sale prices on DVD's with security cases on. Trust me it's something employees don't really want to do but obviously we can't control how often people decide to steal.

Re: Why Do Stores Keep Dvds Under Lock and Key?
 

I use to shop at a Walmart in the Oakland/San Leandro, CA area, and knew the manager of their electronics department. After an audit (back in 2005), they discovered they had shrink, mainly of dvd's and cd's, totaling $150,000! After that audit, they installed locking cases for their electronic media.

The manager also told me of a particular incident whereby one thief took a baby seat out of the box, filled it with dvd's and then went to pay for the baby seat. They were caught (I believe), but it is no surprise that stores like Walmart uses locking cases nowadays.

Re: Why Do Stores Keep Dvds Under Lock and Key?
 

So, because they didnt unlock the cabinet that ink cartridges were in fast enough, you bought an new computer at a different retailer?

You must really hate waiting.

Re: Why Do Stores Keep Dvds Under Lock and Key?
 

Several of the used media businesses I frequent have done that for years, as well. It's actually where I got the idea. We rarely had enough discs to even fill half the binder, and most of the time they were mine anyway.

You know, this is what makes the whole thing bizarre for me. I would never have suspected a Trekkie of thievery. It just seems antithetical to the whole storytelling point of the franchise.

Re: Why Do Stores Keep Dvds Under Lock and Key?
 

I know of one store that puts the price stickers on the spine. Would it kill all stores to do this?

Re: Why Do Stores Keep Dvds Under Lock and Key?
 

RANDOM PAGE 3 THOUGHTS with ABOB TEFF:

It is very entertaining to find a store that still uses the clear plastic hardshells. Almost every store that I have seen use these does not use them properly -- meaning they will have 5 copies of a movie and only 3 of them will be in the cases.

Meijers was my favorite for the longest time ... they put every one-disc DVD in the glass locking case (even the cheapo $5 stuff) but left ALL multi-disc box sets out on the shelf because they wouldn't fit in the glass case.

My first job as a a retail manager was taking over a Suncoast store that was suffering a 26% shrink. That's right, for every dollar coming in, 26 cents walked out. Of course, a good chunk was internal. It was downright scary some of the things I found: invoices hadn't been received for 6 months; envelopes of cash in the filing cabinet; empty DVD cases galore ... one of my first moves was to change the layout of the racks so that you could see down every aisle from the register (previously they ran parallel to the entrance with the register right next to the entrance). We found 50 empty cases shoved between the racks, including a 10-disc foldout Bruce Lee set -- this thing has over 5 feet long when opened up to get to all the discs! How the hell did nobody see that happen?!

Butterscotch pudding rocks -- but not as much as scotch.

For those of you who actually buy out of the glass cases -- and actually wait for somebody to open them -- you should not feel guilty about anything. In fact, you should waste as much of the clerk's time as they wasted of yours -- read the synopsis of every DVD they carry, even the Bratz DVDs.

The biggest problem that promotes shoplifting -- most retail establishments refuse to empower their employees to stop it. Rather than actually training employees in loss prevention, they practice "loss discouragement." I will say this, everytime I go to JC Pennys there is a squad car out front with somebody cuffed in the back. I'm honestly convinced that these are out of work actors that they pay to sit out there -- I've never worked for any retail company that was that gung ho on stopping theft, unless they could make up things to make it look like the employees are stealing.

Re: Why Do Stores Keep Dvds Under Lock and Key?
 

I dunno, if every time I went to a store there was someone getting cuffed, I'd think about shopping elsewhere...

Re: Why Do Stores Keep Dvds Under Lock and Key?
 

If fuckers want to steal, they steal. Those plastic clamshells don't do anything. When I worked at a video store, a couple kids ran out the front door with gigantor duffle bags, full of DVD's. They cleaned out pretty-much the entire 'new' DVD stock. Apparently, they spent approximately fifteen minutes in the back, opening each clamshell with their own key.

And, you know, we were fairly busy, and not one fucking customer said a word. There were, like, five people in line when the kids ran out the door. And one of the customers was like, 'oh, yea, I saw them doing that for awhile'.

Same goes for ANYONE who wants to just sprint out the door. What are the employees going to do, follow you? They might call the cops, per company policy. But there's not much else to do.

Re: Why Do Stores Keep Dvds Under Lock and Key?
 

I disagree, I think the anti-theft devices do actually help. For the folks that really want to steal a bunch of merchandise, yeah they'll still do it. But I imagine it certainly helps some of the "small time" stuff or maybe direct thieves to a store that doesn't have these things.

Re: Why Do Stores Keep Dvds Under Lock and Key?
 

Actually I have a DVD that wouldn't start no matter what. Finally I decided that there's something physically wrong with the DVD, pulled it out of the drive, flipped, and voila! the sensor sticker was right on the optical surface!