SOUTHFIELD, Mich. (WXYZ) — "You just feel violated. It was heart-wrenching. Like, I can't believe she's doing this," said Serena Chammout about surveillance video that appears to show a woman shoplifting inside Chammout's store, Lil' Rascals, in downtown Birmingham.
Retail fraud is on the rise across the country, according to the National Retail Federation. And it's affecting the way some stores operate, prompting everything from a reduction in operating hours, eliminating the sale of some products and closing some store locations.
"Retail alone is a hard business to start with and to have to deal with shoplifters, it's directly out of your pockets," Chammout said. "We're not corporate. You're not stealing from a corporation that makes millions a year. We work hard, so every penny counts for us."
Retail theft is especially hard on Michigan's small business owners, according to Andrea Bitely, Vice President of Marketing and Communications for the Michigan Retailers Association.
Unfortunately, Bitely said not even tougher laws seem to be discouraging retail fraud because the people doing it aren't expecting to be caught.
"So they're just doing these flagrant displays of theft without thinking 'I'm going to go to jail,' Bitely said.
In Roseville, an increase in retail fraud has prompted Walmart and Sam's Club to contract with the city to have police officers on site 12 hours a day.
"There has been an increase in retail frauds in the city, especially around the holidays, we do get an increase," said Roseville Police Chief Mitch Berlin.
Berlin said officers are also doing a great job apprehending people and detectives are assisting in those prosecutions.
