Texas woman notices store walker start following her in Target. Then she pulls an UNO reverse: ‘I started following him’

A Texas woman shopping for cosmetics at Target says a “store walker” started following her around the store. Instead of trying to act as innocently as possible, she says she decided to confront him.

In a video with over 154,900 views, the Target shopper, TikTok creator Teash (@teash_duetqueen), relays exactly how it went down.

Was A Target ‘Store Walker’ Following Her Around?

“I just came to the store, walked right in to go get what I needed,” Teash says while standing in a parking lot.

On her way out, she says she decided to go look for e.l.f. lip stain. That’s when she noticed a man walking past her.

“Storewalker, but dressed like everybody else,” she says.

Then, according to Teash, she heard his radio go off. She says he tried to turn it down and then walked down the same aisle she was in.

“I think the guy said something about, like, a bright shirt,” she says, showing viewers that she is wearing a light purple shirt.

Teash says she was not doing anything wrong. But at that point, she started to feel like the man was following her.

“I was like, I think he following me,” she says.

She says she went to the makeup area, saw that the store did not have what she was looking for, and then noticed the man circle back around.

“I said, ‘Hmm,’” she recalls.

Teash says she went to the cashier, checked out, and turned around. The man was there again, walking down the aisle with his back turned.

“I said, this just don’t sit right with me,” she says.

So she decided to pull an UNO reverse.

“I grab my stuff, and then I started following him,” she says.

When she got close, she asked him what he was doing.

“’Cause now the both of us about to do your job,” Teash says. “What are you doing?”

According to Teash, the man did not have much to say.

“I said, ‘Oh, it wasn’t me,’” she says. “It wasn’t me.”

What Is A Store Walker?

In retail loss prevention, a “store walker” usually refers to a plainclothes employee who walks around the store like a regular shopper while watching for theft. They are also sometimes called floorwalkers or loss prevention officers.

That is different from a uniformed security guard, whose presence is much more obvious.

In an “ask me anything” type post on Reddit, one person claiming to work as a floorwalker “for a major international store chain” shared some insider details about the job.

“As a rule we are trained to observe every person who walks in the store for at least 3 minutes,” they wrote. “Appearance is generally insignificant, I’ve arrested people of every shape and colour and I am consistently surprised.”

They added that they were not trained to profile customers.

“I don’t profile and I’m not encouraged to do so by my supervisors,” they wrote. “If I did I wouldn’t make half of my arrests.”

It is not exactly clear whether Target employs store walkers or plainclothes loss prevention officers. Target does have an Assets Protection team, and the company says that the team works to protect team members, guests, stores, and physical assets.

What Do Viewers Do When They Encounter A Floorwalker?

In the comments, viewers shared what they do when they think someone is following them around a store.

“I say really loud CAN I HELP YOU I SEE YOU FOLLOWING ME,” one commenter wrote.

Another said they turn the whole thing into customer service.

“If you’re going to follow me around the store anyway, you might as well help me find what I’m looking for, point me to the right aisle, answer my questions, and carry the basket if needed,” they wrote. “If you’re determined to stay next to me, at least be useful.”

Someone else said they take a similar approach.

“I start making asking a million questions,” they wrote. “You wanna work, let’s earn that check boo.”

@teash_duetqueen Well just follow each other ?#storewalker #fyp ♬ Tropical – Izabella Creator BM

The Mary Sue has reached out to Target and Teash via email for comment.

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