“Violent customers throw items, climb on counter at CA Chipotle,” read one headline projected on screens behind the stage. “Tesco arms delivery drivers with DNA ‘spit kits’ to help trace abusive customers amid rise in violence,” read another.

While much of the programming at this year’s NRF Big Show was the standard fare of industry promotion and cheerleading, one panel was a grim reminder of the plight of the retail workforce segment who aren’t usually treated to travel stipends and networking mixers: frontline workers.

The session, in case anyone still prescribed to the bromide that the customer is always right, was called “Tackling customer incivility: 3 approaches to support and empower your frontline associates.”

While the Karen and Ken memes that proliferated at the height of the pandemic often featured entitled retail and restaurant customers abusing workers over masking protocols, Carol Leaman, CEO and co-founder of Axonify, a training and onboarding platform geared at frontline workers, said that while the memes may have faded, the despicable behavior has not.

Keep reading here.—AAN

The locked display cases proliferating in drug stores and big box stores, as we’ve noted repeatedly, present a retail conundrum. The purpose of locked cases is to curb shoplifting, but a survey by Consumer World found that when something they wanted to buy is locked up, fewer than 1 in 3 shoppers (32%) bother to summon an employee to unlock the case; a Retail Brew reader poll found that even fewer shoppers bother to summon an associate in that scenario, just 19%. So, if locking up goods apparently scuttles that many sales, is the solution worse than the shoplifting problem it’s meant to address?

Walgreens CEO Tim Wentworth didn’t exactly solve that mystery on a recent earnings call, during which the company reported quarterly losses of $265 million, but he threw more shade on the locked display cases than you might expect from a company that has installed so many of them.

“When you lock things up,” Wentworth said, speaking extemporaneously in response to the last question of the call from an analyst, “you don’t sell as many of them. We’ve kind of proven that pretty conclusively.”

Keep reading here.—AAN

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ReShon Anderson is general manager at gift seller Things Remembered, which was acquired by 1-800-Flowers in 2023.

How would you describe your job to someone who doesn’t work in retail? I lead Things Remembered, a brand that’s all about helping people share meaningful moments through personalized gifts. We’ve been around since 1966—some people might remember us as a mall staple! Now, we’re fully online, offering over 2,000 unique products including handbags and home décor items. My role is to keep growing our presence as an e-commerce leader in personalized gifts, making sure we continue to help people celebrate life’s special moments in a memorable way.

One thing we can’t guess about your job from your LinkedIn profile? Even though “general manager” in retail usually makes you think of running physical stores, Things Remembered is now completely online. So, I like to think of myself as the Chief Everything Officer. I dive into as many areas of the business as possible—whether it's strategy, marketing, or operations—to help grow and build this brand as an e-commerce leader. It keeps things interesting and definitely keeps me on my toes! Something else that’s not on my LinkedIn, but I’m really proud of, is that before Things Remembered, I was on the marketing team that launched The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal. Watching something so iconic come to life was an amazing experience, and it’s one of the highlights of my career so far.

Keep reading here.—EC

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