While big-box stores like Walmart publicly decry the dent shoplifters are making on its profits, small retailers along Main Avenue in downtown Durango say theft is hurting their bottom line and is a persistent problem.
“It’s pretty bad,” said Durango Treasures Manager Elizabeth Dilworth. “And it is sad because our owner is a sweet little lady who is saving money for her kids and their future. She came here from Brazil to live the American dream and she gets taken advantage of time and time again.”
The steady rate of theft has gotten to the point where the store posts security camera photos of shoplifters on the wall near the register under a handwritten sign that reads “The Wall of Shame.”
During the busy summer season, Dilworth estimates that shoplifters hit the store every other day because it’s easier to steal when the store is full and there are only one or two employees to keep an eye out.
“Since it has slowed down, no longer summer, we probably get one big shoplifter about once every three weeks,” she said. “Unfortunately, most of our shoplifters are homeless people or people living in the homeless shelter or the women’s shelter.”
She points to a photo of a blonde woman with a baby stroller on the wall of shame who was tracked to the women’s shelter.
“It’s just really hard for small businesses,” Dilworth said. “We have to really keep up with the shoplifting, especially with the homeless community because they literally talk to each other and say this store is easier to steal from than that one.”
Durango Treasures owner Christina Graves estimates the store loses $250 to $500 a month to shoplifters during the busy seasons in summer and around the holidays. And though she appreciates the help she does get from police, she said no matter how much proof of theft the business provides to them, nothing ever gets done.
“We are all suffering from it,” she said. “All the businesses along Main.”
The Durango Herald checked with 12 random businesses along Main Avenue on Wednesday and heard the sentiments expressed by Durango Treasures about shoplifting, save for the homeless being the main culprits, echoed by all but a small T-shirt shop that wasn’t sure if it was happening or not.
Tippy Canoe Manager Leslie White said theft is a problem and that it is often small items that go missing.
“We have jewelry that disappears, water bottles and these little Pendleton wallets,” she said. “Pendleton is definitely a target. Any small accessories are vulnerable. We find empty boxes.”
All of those items have migrated closer to the counter near the register, but they are still vulnerable as she learned when what appeared to be a ring of thieves swiped a key chain from a display rack on their way out of the store.
“Two girls and a guy came in and went to the backroom and said, ‘Oh, is that a train going by?’” White said. “And then they split up as they left and they all had big shopping bags and the key chain was missing. We followed them down the street to a coffee shop where they dropped off the bags and then someone else picked them up and left.”
All of them were nicely dressed, “so you can’t make any stereotypes on appearance,” she said.
She had one person come in who looked pretty shabby and proceeded to spend $10,000.
“You just can’t judge a book by its cover,” she said.
White hasn’t noticed any time of year when the store is hit harder by thieves than any other because they haven’t caught anyone “red-handed” but said there was a noticeable increase during the pandemic.
“It’s like COVID spurred it because we never had much of a problem before,” she said.
Judy Harper has worked at Eureka Dan’s women’s clothing store for 20 years.
“We have experienced shoplifting,” she said. “I think every store has some experience with shoplifting. We know when something goes missing because we are always straightening up or changing displays and moving merchandise around.”
When an employee suspects something is missing, they check it against ticket sales and that confirms it, Harper said, then added that empty hangers are always a bad sign.
“It’s always happened, but ever since COVID it seems like it’s more of a problem,” she said. “I just have to be aware of when someone is in the store.”
Second Time Around consignment store’s sole employees Lilia Reynolds and Samme Newcomer also stay alert for shoplifters.
“We’ve had women with baby strollers and fake babies or no babies come in and fill the stroller with purses,” Reynolds said. “We usually catch them taking our designer purses off the wall and shoving them into the strollers.”
Newcomer said they get kids and teens who come in to steal as well.
“They will come in wearing backpacks and take clothes into the dressing room, and we’ll find the tags on the floor because they’ll most likely be shoving items into their packs,” Newcomer said. “And it’s a bigger hit for us because we are a small store compared to say Walmart. And then of course our stuff is on consignment so people wonder where their stuff went.”
Newcomer and Reynolds see an uptick in theft around the holidays and in late August right before the tourists leave. “They get it and go,” Newcomer said.
Animas Trading Co. owner Cathy Wakeman has a video monitor behind the counter linked to eight cameras throughout her store.
“It’s been terrible,” she said of the shoplifting. “People I talk to can’t believe that people come in and steal. Just last week, we had three high school boys come in and they took two wallets and a beanie that one put on his head and then they just walked out while we were busy with other customers.”
The three walked down the street and into another business to steal and were caught on camera with the Animas merchandise.
“And it’s all ages that steal, not just young kids,” Wakeman said. “I had an older woman in her late 60s or early 70s come in and steal. I caught her and made her come back in and pay for it. People like to blame it on the kids, but it’s all ages.”
Wakeman, who has worked at Animas for 30 years and owned it for 16, said she has noticed the store gets “hit harder” by theft during the summer and the holidays when the store is busier and she and her employees are not able to watch as closely. In the past, she also noticed it happening more when Fort Lewis College let out for summer and Christmas break.
“And I feel like the police aren’t doing much about it,” she said. “With COVID, maybe they had other things to deal with. We’ve given up calling the police because nothing would come of it.”
Like Durango Treasures, Wakeman said they call other stores along the street to warn them when they have shoplifters. They also go on the Durango Business Improvement District’s website.
“They are good with sharing with other stores quickly,” she said. “They have a place on their site where you can report and share photos. And then we’ll call other stores and let them know to keep an eye out.”
Back at Durango Treasures, Dilworth said they notify other stores as quickly as possible if they see a shoplifter, but says that if you don’t jump on it within 10 minutes, the thieves are in the wind.
“I wish more could be done, like even a shared app so employees could share photos of people to watch for instantly because it would save businesses lots of money,” she said.
Other businesses, who wanted to remain anonymous, also shared their frustration with police not really doing much about the problem.
The Durango Police Department shared statistics that reflected 28 shoplifting calls from businesses between the 500 and 1200 blocks of Main Avenue, and 100 East and 100 West Fifth Street to 12th Street. Of those, the stats showed 12 citations/arrests, one verbal warning, three unfounded incidents, three open cases and nine closed.
“The police department actively works all shoplifting incidents and we issue citations when we can identify an offender,” said Cmdr. Ray Shupe, spokesman for the Durango Police Department. “We can understand the businesses’ frustration because we are only one arm of a three-prong justice system.
“It is important that the courts and the justice system work together to hold individuals accountable to deter future behavior,” he said. “Oftentimes, these crimes are considered minor in nature and not given the attention they should.”
Shupe said the department is committed to combating shoplifting and encourages everyone to report the crimes to police so they can investigate.
gjaros@durangoherald.com
