Rise in thefts prompts Goodwill Colorado to permanently close fitting rooms
Goodwill Colorado is now the latest retail store to try to address a rise in thefts which are impacting the industry nationwide by closing their fitting rooms.
In Colorado, retailers reported about $1 billion in losses from thieves last year.
"It's definitely really tough on customers I can speak to that much," Rosie, a shopper, said while shopping at the Broadway location in Denver.
She says it was a struggle to find the right fit without a fitting room.
"I can't actually try things on and that's really frustrating," she added.
Goodwill announced it would be permanently closing the fitting rooms in all their 42 stores across Colorado except for their Deja Blue Boutique.
Goodwill Communications Manager Ashley Furst says it wasn't an easy decision to make.
"There was a lot taken into consideration," Furst said.
But safety, she says, was a top priority. Issues around drug use, vandalism and theft led to those changes.
"We were really seeing a high number of tags from merchandise on the floors and then actually from January to May of this year we had reported incidents of shoplifting that almost doubled," Furst said compared to last year.
Furst says Goodwill uses the money from their retail stores to support the community programs they offer. The loss, she says, trickles down.
"Workforce development programs, job readiness, career development, programs like our bank works program and IT training that are free to the Colorado community, and we're able to offer them for free because of the support that our retail stores provide, so theft has a big impact on bottom line," she said.
For shoppers like Rosie, it's something they are adjusting to, but have some ideas of their own on how to make it work for everyone.
"More mirrors, I know some other stores have a curtain that doesn't go all the way around, making sure people aren't stealing clothes," she said.
Furst says they have hired prevention loss officers to respond to shoplifting incidents as well, to ensure the safety of their staff, she says they will talk with store managers about adding more mirrors.
