Comments on: Thieves outwit retailers

By: penguinchris

penguinchris — Tue, 26 Jun 2012 20:49:00 +0000

I don’t know about that… I have a (sometimes frustratingly) larger right foot and I shop for shoes at Nordstrom Rack frequently. This is convenient because I like the shoes and the prices… and they put only the right shoes out for display and that’s consistent across all their locations.

That said… there’s not really anything stopping you from stealing the shoes there because there is a counter you go up to to ask for the left shoe, you’re free to do whatever you want with them after you get the left shoe (such as go someplace else in the store and try them on or whatever), and there usually aren’t non-removable security tags.

By: Mike Benza

Mike Benza — Tue, 26 Jun 2012 03:01:00 +0000

I used to work in Modell’s, a sporting goods store in the northeast US. The policy there was to always display the left shoe. Every one of our competitors in the area also only displayed the left shoe. I didn’t realize this policy didn’t exist outside of my area.

By: Funk Daddy

Funk Daddy — Mon, 25 Jun 2012 17:29:00 +0000

Such a policy would have long ago spawned a cool fashion trend if said policy existed.

By: it194j

it194j — Mon, 25 Jun 2012 16:51:00 +0000

Probably not gonna help:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=idHlk8mTd9Y

By: Erik Postma

Erik Postma — Mon, 25 Jun 2012 16:44:00 +0000

Before reading this article just now, I always just assumed that there already was a standard, for this reason.

By: Wreckrob8

Wreckrob8 — Mon, 25 Jun 2012 15:13:00 +0000

Most people have a larger left foot. Many shops display the left foot so people can try them first without assistance. If they displayed the right shoe they could potentially lose sales.

By: Ingo Schildmann

Ingo Schildmann — Mon, 25 Jun 2012 15:05:00 +0000

This should be an evolutionary process. If more shops display left than right shoes, the shops with the right shoes are more frequently a theft target.

By: Conspirator

Conspirator — Mon, 25 Jun 2012 14:58:00 +0000

Exactly what I was thinking. Or if there are some big chains, like Foot Locker, that insist on showing left or right at all their stores, just agree that left shoes will be odd sizes and right shoes will be even sizes. This really is an easy problem to solve.

By: Sxe

Sxe — Mon, 25 Jun 2012 14:55:00 +0000

Seems like it would be easy to switch to an industry standard of displaying only the left shoe.

By: P.F. Bruns

P.F. Bruns — Mon, 25 Jun 2012 14:53:00 +0000

Funny you should mention that: not only do I always try on shoes before buying, but I’m much less likely to buy electronics before I try them.

By: pKp

pKp — Mon, 25 Jun 2012 14:46:00 +0000

Most people like to try the things before they buy them.

By: Sean Nelson

Sean Nelson — Mon, 25 Jun 2012 14:44:00 +0000

Maybe they should put non-functioning display models out, like with electronics.