‘I was making like $7 an hour’: Virginia woman works for Abercrombie. Then she finds out what she’s supposed to do if she sees someone shoplifting

A woman worked for a Virginia Abercrombie & Fitch store for two months. Then the store let her know how employees should handle loss prevention.

Content creator Mariah (@mariahmichellebr) posted a video with more than 97,000 views discussing her brief stint working at Abercrombie & Fitch. The only complication? She said the store had her walk up to shoplifters and deliberately hand over items to steal.

Mariah said the method was supposed to let people know that employees were aware they were stealing. But during one incident, she handed a customer items that they ended up leaving with.

The loss prevention strategy

Mariah was working a minimum-wage job at Abercrombie. It was around 2015, so she says she was making roughly $7 an hour. During her first week, she had training. That’s when the store let her know how it handled loss prevention.

“They were like, ‘If someone is stealing something, um, like say someone is stealing like a pair of jeans, like you would walk up to them with like a shirt and be like, ‘Hey, do you want a shirt for those pair of jeans that you just put in your bag?'” Mariah said.

She questioned the strategy in her head and wondered whether it really worked. Within a week, though, she was put to the test.

A shoplifter enters the store

Mariah noticed a man shoplifting in the store soon after her training. One of the managers told Mariah it was her opportunity to test out the strategy.

So Mariah walked up to the man and offered him a pair of jeans. She said, “Hi, um, would you like a pair of jeans, uh, for the other jeans that you just put in your bag?”

He ended up taking them and leaving the store with the clothing. Her managers looked at her and asked why she didn’t follow him out of the store.

“Like what was I supposed to do? I don’t… I did what y’all said. Y’all said ‘offer him some clothes,’” Mariah said. “I guess that was like supposed to be a way to like be like, ‘Yeah, we know that you’re stealing.’ I don’t really know. But yeah, his [expletive] took the pair of jeans and walked the [expletive] out the store, and I just let him.”

Shoplifting and hands-on policies: do they work?

Mariah mentioned that a recent post where a Black woman was harassed outside of a Zara store for being suspected of shoplifting reminded her of her own retail experience. The woman in question, Douniya (@itsdouniya), was chased by three Zara employees to her car after they accused her of shoplifting. An article from Black Philadelphia magazine reported that Douniya allowed police to search her vehicle, and that they found no merchandise in her car.

The online discussion has pointed out marketplace discrimination, especially in retail settings. It’s been referred to as a “shopping while Black” incident, referring to the racial discrimination Douniya and other shoppers have faced while trying to shop in retail settings. The Mary Sue has previously reported on other situations where Black customers have been accused of shoplifting or treated differently while in-store. Two different women reported being discriminated against while going to Lululemon, for instance.

Multiple viral posts shared clips from the encounter, which occurred at Alderwood Mall in Lynnwood, Washington. Since then, people from across TikTok have recommended Douniya take legal action.

Many retailers maintain or have “no-chase” policies. Untrained employees who are not experienced in conflict resolution or loss prevention attempting to confront supposed shoplifters can often lead to personal liability or injury for the retailer. KIRO News Seattle, for instance, reported on a situation where a woman was injured after employees at a Staples attempted to chase after a suspected shoplifter. The woman, Elizabeth Pratt, sustained injuries that forced her to live in assisted living.

Commenters weigh in

It’s worth noting that Mariah worked in Abercrombie & Fitch in 2015. The store’s policies may have shifted to a hands-off approach since then, although there’s little public information to confirm this. But her commenters didn’t necessarily agree with the store’s 2015 loss prevention playbook.

“Why was this the strategy,” one commenter wrote.

Another person added, “They never actually tested their private equity loss prevention script.”

The Mary Sue has reached out to Abercrombie via email and Mariah TikTok direct message and comment. This story will be updated if either party responds.

@mariahmichellebr #zara #fyp ♬ original sound – Queen Mariah

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