EAS does not care how an item was checked out, or whether it was checked out at all. A live security tag or label that passes between the pedestals at the door sets off the alarm. Cashier, self checkout, or no checkout, the logic is the same. When the human in the loop disappears, the door becomes the one control point you have left, and EAS is what turns the door into a control point instead of an open hole.

The State of California reported that its organized retail crime efforts have recovered nearly 260 million dollars in stolen merchandise and produced more than 32,000 arrests since October 2023. Buried in the operations behind that number is a pattern any beauty or drugstore operator already knows. Costa Mesa police recovered roughly 150,000 dollars in stolen fragrances and merchandise tied to Ulta.

A career retail theft suspect was back in a Washington jail this month, and the path that put her there says more about store security than it does about her. On June 12 Bellevue police arrested Janeice Downs, also known as Janeice Smith, in the parking lot of the Westfield Southcenter mall.