H&M on Wednesday became the latest major retailer to sound the alarm about thefts at its stores, saying they had become a problem, particularly in the United States, and that it would hire more security guards to combat the situation, Reuters reported.

“The United States stands out,” Helena Helmerson, CEO of H&M, the world’s second-largest clothing retailer, told Reuters.

But Adam Karlsson, H&M’s chief financial officer, stressed at a meeting with investors that shoplifting was becoming a “growing problem in many markets”.

The Bloomberg agency noted the day before that American retailers ended up closing some stores, shortening working hours and changing the assortment of goods in response to a wave of increasingly brazen crimes.

Concerns about worker safety are also on the rise, with half of respondents to a National Retail Federation (NRF) survey saying thieves became “much more aggressive” last year compared to 2021.

According to the employers’ organization, among the most affected cities are Los Angeles, Houston, New York and Seattle.

“Far more important than the financial impact of these crimes, the issues of violence and safety remain the property of all retailers, regardless of size or industry,” said David Johnston, vice president of NRF.

The “epidemic” of shoplifting is also in the UK

The comments from the retailer on the other side of the Atlantic came after the chain’s chief executive John Lewis warned earlier in September that the UK was facing an “epidemic” of theft and called on British authorities to crack down on thieves.

“It became an epidemic. “Unfortunately, last year we saw twice as many crimes” of this kind, Sharon White, president of the chain, which owns several brands in its portfolio, including Waitrose supermarkets, said on September 12.

George Weston, chief executive of Associated British Foods, which also owns the well-known clothing chain Primark, said in turn that the situation had led to the need to increase spending on security guards, cameras and shoulder cameras for employees.

Ken Murphy, CEO of Tesco, has announced that the UK’s largest supermarket chain has started offering shoulder cameras for employees who need them. Murphy also called for changes to UK law to criminalize abuse and violence against retail workers as a separate offence.

Shoplifting has also become a problem in the United States, Great Britain and other European countries as the cost-of-living crisis has reduced consumer incomes.