TJ Maxx, Marshalls parent equipping employees with body cameras to stop theft

TJX Companies — the parent company of retail stores such as TJ Maxx, Marshalls and HomeGoods — is equipping employees with body cameras to thwart theft. 

Over the past year, the company started using body cameras in certain stores across its U.S. portfolio, which also includes Sierra and Home Sense, as a means to “de-escalate incidents, deter crime, and demonstrate to our Associates and customers that we take safety in our stores seriously,” a TJX Companies spokesperson told FOX Business.  

The cameras are worn specifically by loss prevention associates, who are trained on how to use the cameras effectively, and the footage is “only shared upon request by law enforcement or in response to a subpoena,” the spokesperson said. 

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“When somebody comes in, it’s sort of — it’s almost like a de-escalation where people are less likely to do something when they’re being videotaped,” TJX finance chief John Klinger told analysts during an earnings call in May. 

He made it clear that the company is “still highly focused on shrink,” which is an industry term for lost or stolen merchandise. But the cameras are just one way the company is seeking to tackle the problem, which accounted for $112.1 billion in losses in 2022, according to the National Retail Federation (NRF). 

For TJX, the company told analysts that it expects shrink to be flat year-over-year. However, Klinger said it still has a “high focus on making sure that we balance protecting the goods with making sure that the customers can shop easily and get — and be able to buy the goods while also maintaining safety in our stores.”

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This comes shortly after Dollar General told analysts on an earnings call last week that it is removing items that are frequently stolen and eliminating self-checkout options from thousands of additional stores.

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As part of its plan, the chief executive said the company converted approximately 3,000 additional stores away from self-checkout in May, totaling 12,000 total locations that have been converted since the beginning of the fiscal year.