JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — You may notice when you walk into your go-to stores, you see an array of items locked up. It’s more than electronics, we’re talking about makeup and even fake nails. This is in response to shoplifting numbers going up, not just in Florida, but nationwide.

As we enter 2025, business experts are concerned about the surge of shoplifting they saw in 2024, with monetary losses for retailers rising up to 90%, according to the National Retail Federation.

Major retailers have responded to rising theft by locking up merchandise, upgrading security cameras, hiring private security firms, and even closing stores.

Walgreens announced last summer that one of the reasons they’re closing 2,100 locations by 2027 is because of their struggles fighting retail theft.

Rich Hollander, who’s worked in retail management since the 1970s, says the climate of stores is changing because of the increase in shoplifting.

“So, I started with Radio Shack in 1971,” he told First Coast News. “And then we would have virtually, you know, 1%. If we had 1% of our stuff stolen, it was a lot. And now it’s maybe 5%. And so, in some states, they’ve gotten a lot stricter laws.”

Florida is one out of at least eight states that have upped the penalties for shoplifters in 2024. In October, a new law went into effect, adding higher fines and longer periods in prison depending on how much of a store’s product(s) were stolen.

The lowest penalty is for stealing goods with a value of less than $100, as you could face a fine of up to $500, imprisonment for up to 60 days, or both. Taking part in organized retail theft turns into a third-degree felony, leading to up to five years in prison and fines adding up to $5,000.

In more serious cases, second-degree felonies bring up to 15 years in prison, a fine of up to $10,000, or both. And stealing $100,000 or more is classified as “Grand Theft of the First Degree” where you could spend 30 years in prison and a fine up to $10,000.

After seeing the success this law change has brought California, Hollander is optimistic for numbers of shoplifting crimes in Florida to drop.

“They’ve just made it much more difficult and much more onerous on the shoplifter if they get caught,” Hollander said. “And so, it’s not worth it unless they get caught. You know, you see video of these people stealing from high-end department stores, and that just is not happening to the same extent as it was because they’re going to jail.”

Hollander adds that for businesses, the data from 2024 shows that 5% of products on shelves gets stolen.