DAYTON — It’s often called the five-finger discount, but no one laughs when stories go out of business, and employees lose their jobs.
Shoplifting creates billions of dollars in losses every year nationwide. The I-Team’s Mike Campbell spent some time digging deeper into the way this threatens store survival and creates higher prices for all of us.
If a store brings in and buys merchandise from its suppliers and then can’t resell it because someone steals it, somebody has to pay for it. And that is usually consumers who pay higher prices, or a store closes, and we lose another shopping option.
Shemar Redbens and Stacy Bryant are long-time employees at Henry’s House of Fashion on West Third Street in Dayton.
They said most customers are great, but a few people try to take advantage.
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If they see someone steal once, they put their protocol in place.
“Not only are we the sales associates, but we are also the security guards,” Bryant said.
“We take that picture, probably have it up in the back, and we go from there. If they come back in, we call the cops and get arrested,” Redbens said.
Janet Phillips with Feather’s Vintage Clothing said she has been doing that for 48 years in the Oregon District. She calls out shoplifters if they ever return to her store. She’s also chased people down before.
“Some guy stole a hat out of here, and I ran down the street and did catch them, and a police officer, off-duty, saw the whole thing happen,” Phillips said.
Phillips just watches people closer than ever. Her small business can’t afford to take losses, but it’s not just small businesses that are targets.
Miamisburg Police said they arrested a man stealing items off shelves at a Lowe’s store in 2024. They learned he was suspected of targeting several other Lowe’s stores in the Dayton and Cincinnati area.
News Center 7’s research showed that two chain stores are very popular with shoplifters. They are Dick’s House of Sport and Ulta Beauty.
Police in Beavercreek often post pictures on Facebook of people suspected of walking out of Dick’s with gear they didn’t pay for. One of the incidents happened with a woman on Dec. 9, 2025. They said a group of men took $2,200 worth of gear on Nov. 29, 2025.
News Center 7 reached out to Dick’s, but they did not reply to our request. A public records request showed police theft reports from Dick’s stores in Beavercreek, Huber Heights, and Miami Township.
Over the last four years, there have been 34 thefts at the Beavercreek Dick’s store, 65 thefts in Huber Heights, and 53 at the store in Miami Township.
The thefts at Ulta Beauty are just as big. News Center 7 learned there were 45 thefts shoplifting reports at the Beavercreek store, 55 in Huber Heights, and 63 at the location in Miami Township.
News Center 7 reached out to Ulta Beauty, and it provided the following statement: “We are currently in a quiet period for earnings, so we must respectfully decline to participate.”
Harvey Lehrner runs Don’s Pawn Shop in downtown Dayton, and he said they rarely deal with shoplifting, even with lots of high-priced items. He said he has spent heavily on security over 76 years in business.
Small businesses end up paying one way or the other.
“When you’re here for business that long, you’re going to have situations.”
Not every business has that level of security. It means workers do double duty to slow down shoplifting, which helps keep customer prices low and allows the businesses to stay open and workers employed.
“Really just have to know who to look out for, because everybody ain’t bad people,” Redbens said.
The National Retail Federation said a survey of loss prevention officers shows a 93% increase in shoplifting reports from 2019 to 2024. The NRF’s most recent year-end totals are estimated at $112 billion in losses to shoplifting nationwide.
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