I was out in the bedding area greeting customers this afternoon when I talked to a regular shopper that asked me when I was going to write another blog. I told her that I thought I had a subject I wanted to write about because of something that happened today.  A visitor to our nursery tried to shoplift a 2 gallon Monrovia plant valued at $30. He did not succeed and I suspect that we won't see him again. I called him a "visitor" and not a customer or guest because he does not meet my definition of either of those terms. A guest can be someone who is welcome on our property to peruse our store and obtain information. A customer is a valued person who purchases our merchandise. This visitor's intention was to steal our merchandise. An employee watched a man, throw a plant over our chain link fence into a circular drive still on our property. He went to his car to drive up our property line and pick it up and drive out the other side. My son, Cody, beat him to the plant and he backed up and drove off.  Our security cameras were checked and we now know the car, the bald head and that impressive waistline.

            Security has been an important issue for about the last 5 years.  We started getting visitors, after hours, that would come on the property and steal.  We realized that security cameras are a tool but they did not catch anyone. It takes a person to catch a thief.  We installed a security device that calls my cell phone when anyone enters our property after hours. Within two weeks I got a 6am call that I responded to. I drove up to the dude that I had seen on my video system stealing from me. BUSTED!  He was in his 50's and lived in a 4,000 square foot house a few miles away. I drove by his house while he spent the day in jail. His landscape was exceptional. You are welcome Mr. Arditi.           

      My daughter Kelly had managed several stores in the mall 3 miles away. When she came to work for me she recognized quite a few people in our store that she suspected of being shoplifters but with her companies policies she was almost powerless to catch them. She pointed them out in our store and I caught them, discussed their honesty and escorted them out.           

      We heartily welcome guests and customers. Visitors with bad intentions ...not so much.