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Page 14. Whitby Froo Press, Wodnesday, April 28, 1993 businss news 'Shopthieves'steal more1 than $2.5 billion a year Shopthieves (customers and employees) who take merchandise from retail stores without paying for it are stealing more than $2.5 billion per year from Canadian retailers. This equates to over $6 million per day, 365 days a year. When paperwork and bookkeeping errors are figured in, total shrinkage increases to over $7 million per day, or $2.75 billion per year. Those figures have just been released in the 1993 'Shrinkage Survey' of Canadian retailers, produced by the Retail Council of Canada. "Retailers are no longer going to refer to sticky-fingered individuals as "shopifters" but as "shopthieves," a much more accurate term to describe the perpetrators of this crime," says Retail Council vice president Mel Fruitman. "The effects of these huge losses on the industry are dramatic. For example, an independent retailer is having $5,000 per year stolen from her own earnings," notes Fruitman. "If there were no shoptheft, retailers would be able to create 100,000 new jobs in their stores. That puts what many consider to be a victimless crime into human terms, doesn't it?" Fruitman adds, 'While the median figure is unchanged from last year, it is likely underestimated. Although many companies returned question- naires, many were estimating the loss rate. "Both the average figure and the weighted average indicated that shrinkage had increased. And, with few exceptions, most individual companies showed an increase." All types and sizes of organizations are targets for these light-fingered thieves, with some losses ranging from a low of 0.5 per cent in shoe stores to a high of 2.7 per cent in sporting goods stores. Thirty-five per cent of all respondents indicate that they prosecute ail customers caught stealing, while over 30 per cent prosecute all employees. Half of the retailers prosecute depending on the particular circumstances and do so in about 60 per cent of the cases for employees and 70 per cent for customers. The portion who do not prosecute is under 20 per cent. Retailers also note that they are catching more thieves in both categories and feel that it is mostly a result of improved vigilance, and also a result of increased theft. .FLE T.ax .Retu s Full Refund in. about 2 wks. Whitby 666-2400 Toronto 733-8055 BUYING OR SELLING? For service and results ask for LILIAN NORTH sales rep RE/MAX Summit Realty (1991) Ltd. 668-3800 686-5865 1 Member of Oshawa & Toronto Boards In addition to the actual losses are the costs incurred in attempting to contain them. For one-fifth of stores this amounts to more than 0.5 per cent of sales. 'I shudder to think of how much would be stolen if stores were not taking the actions they are," adds Fruitman. "Shoptheft is one of the most prevalent forms of crime in this country. It is time that society recognized it as such." Retail Council of Canada has produced the Shrinkage Survey annually for the past three years. In addition to its survey and loss prevention conference, the council is also offering its latest profit network session 'Stop Shoptheft' in 34 cities across Canada, beginning in May. Job equity practices to be discussed 'Exemplary Employment Equity Practices' wili be dis- cussed at a meeting in Oshawa on Tuesday, May 11. The luncheon meeting, from 11:45 a.m. to 2 p.m., at the Holiday Inn, is being held by the Durham Region Employment Eqi Network(DREEN). IEN is a network for human resource professionals and employment equity practi- tioners. Tickets are $25. For regist- ration, call Elizabeth McArthur at 721-2000, ext. 409. Engineers' annual meeting May 7 T11ne annual general meeting of the Association of Professional Engineers, Lake Ontario chap- ter, will be held at Cullen Gar- dens on May 7, 6:30 p.m. Guest speaker will be Ontario riding MP Rene Soetens. Tickets for the dinner and dance are $28, and are available from John. Presta (668-7721) or Tom Odell (644-3914). Members, friends and family are welcome. Seminars begin May 17 A .series of computer work- shops will be offered by Diamond Management Institute beginning May 17. The series of seminars deals with DOS, Lotus 123, dBASE IV, WordPerfect and Windows. All classes are held at 375 Findlay Ave., suite 201, Ajax. Call 427-1922. BOB SAWATSKY of the Reuze Building Centre spoke at a Durham Region waste reduction seminar for businesses last Wednesday at Le Gala. Reuze accepts and resells used construction materials that would otherwise be go to the dump. Photo by Mark Reesor, WhItby Free Press 2-day info session for business By Mark Reesor Whitby is putting on a sympo- sium to show local businesses how they can get their share of government money. More than 200 businesses from across Durham are expected to put up $45 each for the two-day meeting to be held May 18 at Le Gala, Sunray St. èRepresentatives from 11 minis- tries will be on hand to highlight more than 50 government assis- tance progams, including job- sOntario the Ontario Technology Fund, Venture Financing and the Industrial Research Assis- tance Program. The government agency repre- sentatives will put on a presen- tation on the assistance pro- grams the first day, focusing on unance, research and develop- ment, trade, training and manu- facturing, says Whitby market- ing and economic development director Peter LeBel. As well, financial and tax advi- sor Brian Costello is scheduled to speak. Businesses will have a chance to meet with the agency repre- sentatives on the second day, "to talk in a one-on-one consultation about how their company may fit with the government programs that are available." LeBel says initial response from area businesses to the idea has been "tremendous," with many companies saying they will attend, "and that's without any major publicity at this point." He says the symposium "will be a tre ndous benefit for our business cmmunity, for a very, very, very mall fee." LeBel came up. with the idea for the event -- economic develop- ment officials from Durham's other .municipalities liked the idea and asked to participate; officials from the region and the Durham Region Action Commit- tee for Training have also joined in. Some 7,000 brochures and registration forms for the sympo- sium, are being circulated across the region. Call the Whitby marketing department for more informa- tion. Businesses asked to help with MS campaign Every May the Multiple Sclerosis carnation campaign reaches out into the community to raise funds to support ongoing research for a cause and cure of the debilitating disease. Traditionally, multi-coloured bouquets of carnations are made available for sale in time for Mothers' Day. Anyone wishing to purchase MS carnations can do so by contacting an MS volunteer at any one of various retail locations in their neighbourhood. While street sales continue to be the major focus of the carnation campaign, this year the Brampton, Sirncoe and Durham regions of Ontario have been targeted for an even broader community reach through advance orders of carnations. Local businesses are invited to participate in the campaign either by ordering flowers for their employees or by recruiting a staff member to canvass for advance sales within the organization. Carnations are then delivered directly to the place of business on Friday, May 7 to be enjoyed during the Mothers' Day weekend and beyond. "Advance sales allow us to reach the community much more efficiently," says Holly Chapman, carnation campaign co-ordinator. "We're hoping that local businesses support our efforts to deliver fresh carnations directly to their doors. The whole process provides added convenience for individuals and organizations wishing to support the MS Society while making very effective use of our resources." Most companies, community groups, schools, restaurants and hotels in the Durham, Simcoe and Brampton regions have already been sent advance campaign information and order forms. Any organization that would like to join those participating in the community-based campaign, contact Holly Chapman at the MS Society, Ontario division, at (416) 922-6065 or 1-800-268-7582.