Kathy Grannis, National Retail Federation

Regardless of company size or type, loss prevention executives can agree on one thing: organized retail crime continues to be a major problem and concern across the retail landscape. According to the National Retail Federation’s 2006 Organized Retail Crime survey, released today at NRF’s Loss Prevention Conference in Minneapolis, 81 percent of loss prevention executives indicated their companies have been a victim of organized retail crime.

As expected, retail industry sales continued to climb with positive gains in March as home improvement and furnishing categories continue to see significant increases. According to the National Retail Federation (NRF), retail industry sales for March (which exclude automobiles, gas stations, and restaurants) rose a solid 7.2 percent over last year and increased 0.3 percent seasonally adjusted over February. In fact, last month’s sales were stronger than originally reported. February sales were revised up from 7.2 percent to 7.8 percent.

While month-to-month comparisons were tough on retailers, the cooler weather did not hamper year-over-year gains according to the National Retail Federation.