Like any conference meant to put the wind in attendees’ sails (and sales!), most sessions at the National Retail Federation’s recent NYC conference aimed to be upbeat and inspiring. No fewer than 15 session titles included the word “innovation,” and nine “success” or “successful.”

But it wasn’t all rainbows and unicorns.

“Combat” and “crime” each appeared once on the agenda, and it was for the same panel: “Working together to combat organized retail crime.”

• Target CEO Brian Cornell noted in a November earnings call that in 2022 Target had $400 million of inventory shrink, which also encompasses items breaking and administrative errors, but he blamed “a significant increase in theft and organized retail crime across our business.”
• Retailers saw an average increase of 26.5% in incidents of organized retail crime (ORC) in 2021, according to a 2022 NRF study.

Getting organized: David Johnston, VP of asset protection and retail operations at NRF, led off the panel with a slide defining what ORC is—and is not.

• It is not conventional shoplifting, which NRF defines on the slide as an individual stealing for “personal need or gain.”
• With ORC, stolen goods are either sold online, sold to wholesalers to sell back to the retail channel, or shipped abroad.

“I believe the post-Covid era of retail crime has changed the landscape,” Millie Kresevich, senior director of asset protection at EssilorLuxottica—which owns brands including Ray-Ban and Oakley, as well as retailers including LensCrafters and Sunglass Hut—said. “Today’s criminals are much more brazen than they have been in the past. Gone are the days of just concealing property when they’re in the stores. Today’s criminals are…sweeping shelves.”

Keep reading here.—AAN

“Since 2018, Jing Gao has been building an empire of Sichuan-inspired cuisine, starting with Fly by Jing’s famous Chili Crisp sauce and now including products like dumplings and hot-pot sets,” writes Marketing Brew’s Katie Hicks, who spoke with Gao about Fly by Jing’s marketing and branding:

Gao told us that keeping her personal story and connection to the brand front and center has been key to connecting with customers.

[One] tactic that’s worked well for Fly by Jing as part of its community-building strategy…is partnering with other brands. In the last year, the brand has collaborated with fellow DTC food brand Fishwife, Disney, and the YouTube series Hot Ones.

In 2022, Fly by Jing also partnered with Shake Shack in the UK on a Chili Crisp menu, which Gao said will be rolling out to all US locations this year.

Read the whole story here on Marketing Brew.

Today’s top retail reads.

Unlimited supply: From LVHM to Prada, luxury designers are increasingly looking into supply-chain acquisitions to increase their margins and have better control. But will it work? (Vogue Business)

Time’s up: Fake meat, that once set out to disrupt the meat industry, is turning out to be little more than a trend as consumers turn away. (Bloomberg)

Coming home: An automated knitting factory in Los Angeles may help bolster a new wave of “Made in USA” sneaker production. (Fast Company)

Three of the stories below are real...and one is most definitely not. Can you spot the fake?

1. A Utah-based apparel brand will debut ski wear that comes lined with pockets for storing food, water, and even cocktails.
2. Mountain Dew is introducing a hot sauce that tastes like Baja Blast.
3. Chime, the financial tech company, is launching a special-edition candle to help customers “manifest” wealth.
4. Chicago is getting a Taylor Swift-inspired “Breakup Bar” weeks before Valentine’s Day.

Keep reading for the answer.

Catch up on the Retail Brew stories you may have missed.

• The key themes of NRF 2023
• Takeaways from the event’s purpose-driven retail panel
• Luxury players detail their plans beyond the pandemic