Conundrum Tag

Personal care and sweetness products under lock and key? That's becoming increasingly common place in mass merchandisers and specialty beauty retailers across the country, with on a regular basis items like body wash, shampoo and toothpaste safeguarded securely behind locked plexiglass windows in lots of stores and the likes of Ulta Beauty preparing to lock fragrance in cabinets in 70 percent of stores by the top of the 12 months. That’s because some retailers are reporting that inventory shrink — the difference between a balance-sheet inventory and actual stock that is commonly blamed on organized retail crime — is putting increased pressure on operating margins, with beauty being one of the affected categories, along with electronics, video games, smart phone accessories, and...