The owner of a clothing store in the UK is taking an unconventional approach to preventing theft. The woman, who preferred to remain anonymous, wants to hire skilled thieves to come in and steal from her store and then tell her how they did it, so she can prevent it from happening again.
The witty entrepreneur posted a job offer on Bark.com, which quickly went viral, offering thieves £50 ($64) an hour to come in and try to steal from her store, plus the chance to keep three of the things they manage to steal. Candidates would need to visit her store on a number of occasions over several weeks and then produce a report of all the things they stole and how they did it. Realizing that her job may come off as strange, the woman explained that she is simply taking a different approach to theft prevention after years of suffering significant loses during the holiday season.
Photo: MermaidsWhimsy/Pixabay
“I’m looking for a professional to help highlight security weaknesses in my store, by deliberately stealing from it,” the store owner wrote. “I’ve been a business owner since I opened my retail shop in 2013, and have experienced extensive theft every year in the run-up to Christmas for the last five years.”
“Like clockwork, from the start of November, the shop gets busier and it becomes harder to monitor everyone who comes through the door. Thieves swipe items from our shelves and I’m losing thousands of pounds every year and, as a small business owner, I can’t afford to let this slide,” the store owner added.
The anonymous woman said that she hopes the experience will give her valuable insight into how thieves operate and help her improve the security of her store. She’s particularly interested in knowing if the layout of the store needs changing, if CCTV cameras are positioned correctly and how her staff interacts with thieves.
“It’s an odd request, but I’m determined to find weaknesses that I may not have spotted before. If you can help or think you can help me improve the security of my store, please let me know,” she wrote in her ad.
Photo: ElasticComputeFarm/Pixabay
After the job ad went viral, English newspaper The Mirror contacted Bark.com co-founder Kai Feller for comment. The entrepreneur declared himself surprised by the woman’s request, but hopes that she finds someone suitable to her needs.
“While we do have a variety of security professionals already on our site, professional robbery isn’t a service we actively offer,” Feller said. “However, we hope that someone with the right skills and know-how is willing to help this store owner better secure her shop. Who knows, if we have a significant number of applications perhaps this can become a permanent service on Bark.com!”
If you’re interested in this odd job, you should know that the businesswoman requires candidates not to have a criminal record. I guess good thieves don’t get caught, right?
