„ ■ Retailers prepare for election: Boards and increased security as businesses take cautious approach.
Nordstrom, the highend department store chain, said it planned to board up some of its 350 stores and hire extra security for Election Day. Tiffany & Co., the luxury jeweler, said “windows of select stores in key cities will be boarded in anticipation of potential electionrelated activity.” Saks Fifth Avenue said it was “implementing additional security measures at certain locations in the event of civil unrest due to the current election.”
In Beverly Hills, California, police said they would take a “proactive approach” and closeRodeo Drive, a renowned strip of luxury retailers, on Tuesday and Wednesday, citing the likelihood of increased “protest activity.” Police, working with private security companies, said they would also be on “full alert” throughout Beverly Hills.
The nation is on edge as the presidential contest nears an end, the latest flashpoint in a bruising year that has included the coronavirus pandemic and widespread protests over social justice. Anxiety has been mounting for months that the election’s outcome could lead to civil unrest, no matter who wins.
In the retail industry, many companies are not simply concerned about possible mayhem — they are planning for it.
In a showofhowvolatile the situation seems to the industry, 120 representatives from 60 retail brands attended a video conference last week hosted by the National Retail Federation, which involved training for store employees on how to deescalate tensions among customers, including those related to the election. The trade group also hired security consultants who have prepped retailers about which locations around the country are likely to be the most volatile when the polls close.
“I am 50-plus years old, and I didn’t think I would live to see this,” said Shane Fernett, who owns a contracting business in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and has been stocking up on plywood to board up his retail customers. “You read about this in third-world countries, not America.”
For the retail industry, 2020 has been filled with bankruptcies, store closures and plummeting sales as tens of millions of Americans struggled with job losses because of the pandemic.
Protests over police violence against Black citizens sent millions of people into the streets, demonstrations that in some cases devolved into the looting and burning of stores in a number of cities.
Worries about unrest around the election have been fanned by President Donald Trump, who has declined to say whether he would agree to a peaceful transfer of power if his Democratic challenger, Joe Biden, is victorious.
This year, businesses have already sustained at least $1 billion in insured losses from looting and vandalism largely set off by the May 25 killing of George Floyd by a Minnesota police officer, according to one estimate cited by the Insurance Information Institute, an industry group.
Some large businesses are keeping their plans vague.
Target, with about 1,900 stores, said in a statement, “like many businesses, we’re taking precautionary steps to ensure safety at our stores, including giving our store leaders guidance on how to take care of their teams.”
A spokesman for CVS, which operates nearly 10,000 stores, said: “Our local leadership teams are empowered to take steps that they determine will best support the safety of our stores, employees and customers. This includes the option to board select store locations.”
GapInc., withmore than 2,000 stores in North America, said it had “contingency plans set in place for any issues that may arise and will continue to monitor the situation carefully and closely.”