I work in retail – here’s the most disgusting way we caught a shoplifter, her stash was too grotty to sell
A RETAIL worker has revealed the disgusting lengths a shoplifter went to in a bid to nick lip gloss and mascara.
The woman, who works for a makeup firm in Scotland, spoke about the jaw-dropping incident on the Girls Overheard podcast.
And you won’t look at a Greggs baguette the same way again.
In a voice note, the beauty worker said: “I work for a makeup company. We get so many shoplifters and I’ve seen a lot of things.
“But there was one time that this woman was in and she’d been in before shoplifting.
“So she was getting followed about and they watched her stuff products into a Greggs tuna baguette. Inside the baguette she was putting lip glosses, mascaras.”
She added: “So then when they went to approach her, they’ve taken her basket up and the girl was like ‘Oh hi, did you get those products for your sandwich?’ And she was like ‘what?’ And they were like ‘go and just put the products in that basket please’.
“And she had to pull out the three products that she’d stuffed into this Greggs tuna baguette.”
But don’t worry, you don’t need to give your new makeup a cautious sniff after buying it in store.
The retail worker insisted: “To confirm, the products got written off and not sold.”
It comes after a primary school teacher mum-of-two revealed that she is a secret shoplifter who has nicked everything from earrings and tea lights to toys and food, totalling £5,000.
The 41-year-old said she gets overtaken by a rush of euphoria at getting away with her crimes.
She said: “I don’t look like a stereotypical shoplifter. I’m in my early forties and a single mum-of-two with a full-time job as a primary school teacher.
“I dress smartly and am always polite with shop assistants.
“It wasn’t until 2020, when Covid struck and my life fell apart, that my habit started.
“My partner walked out on me and our children, now aged five and seven, and I’d sob myself to sleep, worried about how I was going to manage on my own.
“I applied for Universal Credit, but each month I was left with less than £200 to cover food and essentials after paying the mortgage and bills.”
She added: “My shoplifting went from something born out of necessity to a compulsion I couldn’t control.
“I began stealing every time I went to the shops. I stole everything from clothes for the kids and myself to food, beauty products and toys I couldn’t afford.
“I hated seeing my children envy their playmates and didn’t want them to go without.
“While some things I actually needed, like fruit and veg that I’d “forget” to scan, other things I stole for the sake of it — like gold-plated hoop earrings and tea lights.
“Because I wasn’t stealing directly from a person, I saw shoplifting as a victimless crime. But of course, it isn’t.”
'IT'S A SELFISH CRIME'
RETAIL expert Clare Bailey, who appears on ITV’s Good Morning Britain and Sky News, says: “Shoplifting is not a victimless crime. Everyone is a victim.
“Because shops and businesses suffer so much loss due to theft, they have to raise prices to cover that loss. If there was no shoplifting, prices might actually come down. So we are all paying for it.
“Shop staff are also victims. While some people might be very sneaky about how they steal, others can be quite violent. The charity Retail Trust is getting increasing numbers of reports from shop staff who have had to confront people who are stealing.
“They are being faced with quite severe, violent responses. It’s becoming rather scary.
“These are often people who work for the minimum wage and have no training to deal with these situations.
“But they face them day in, day out, when they should never have to.
“Shoplifting is on the rise and it’s almost as though, as the cost of living has gone up, people think, ‘Why shouldn’t I?’
“But we need businesses to make a profit to keep the economy going and we need institutional investors to make enough money so they can pay out for things like pension funds.
“Tesco might be one of the biggest investors into your grandparents’ pension fund.
“If they lose money, everyone could be affected.
“As most of us are honest, we are quite accepting of the security tags and plastic boxes stores have had to introduce to manage theft.
“Of course, the tags and cases cost money too, but it’s better than losing the product.
“If caught shoplifting, you risk a criminal record and this will further impact your employment and earning opportunities.
“It’s a crime and it’s a selfish one. Everyone is paying the cost of shoplifting.”
For more info see retailchampion.co.uk.