Tom Meehan, President ControlTek, a global leader in tamper-evident packaging, retail asset protection and RFID solutions, is joined by Wade Holman to talk about the latest technology and trends in store-based retail loss prevention.
Welcome to The Voice of Retail. I'm your host Michael LeBlanc. This podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada.
Tom Meehan, President ControlTek, a global leader in tamper-evident packaging, retail asset protection and RFID solutions, is joined by Wade Holman to talk about the latest technology and trends in store-based retail loss prevention.
About Tom
As president, Tom guides the company’s strategy while leading CONTROLTEK’s core business sectors – Tamper-Evident Packaging, EAS, and RFID. He drives the company’s strategic vision, sustainable business practices, and company culture and oversees the day-to-day operations of the business, sales, and customer growth and retention.
Tom is well-known in the retail loss prevention world as both a tremendously effective LP professional and as a thought leader who unselfishly shares his knowledge and experience out of a genuine desire to help his peers fight shrink more effectively. He shares his wealth of knowledge and expertise in his roles as retail technology editor at Loss Prevention Magazine, host of The Cash News Podcast, co-host of the Loss Prevention Research Council podcast CrimeScience and the organization’s senior technology advisor.
Tom has held Chief Strategy Officer and Chief Information Security Officer at CONTROLTEK. Prior to joining, Tom was director of technology and investigations with Bloomingdale’s, he worked for Home Depot in loss prevention, and has had various technology, loss prevention, and operational roles at several other companies.
About Michael
Michael is the Founder & President of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc and a Senior Advisor to Retail Council of Canada as part of his advisory and consulting practice. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience and has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. He has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions with C-level executives and participated on thought leadership panels worldwide. Michael was recently added to ReThink Retail’s prestigious Top 100 Global Retail Influencers for a second year in 2022.
Michael is also the producer and host of a network of leading podcasts, including Canada’s top retail industry podcast, The Voice of Retail, plus the Remarkable Retail with author Steve Dennis, Global E-Commerce Tech Talks and The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois. Most recently, Michael launched Conversations with CommerceNext, a podcast focussed on retail eCommerce, digital marketing and retail careers - all available on Apple, Spotify, Amazon Music and all major podcast platforms. Michael is also the producer and host of the “Last Request Barbeque” channel on YouTube where he cooks meals to die for and influencer riches.
Michael LeBlanc 00:05
Welcome to The Voice of Retail. I'm your host, Michael LeBlanc. This podcast is brought to you in conjunction with the Retail Council of Canada.
Michael LeBlanc 00:09
Tom Meehan, President at ControlTek, a global leader in tamper-evident packaging, retail asset protection and RFID solutions, is joined by Wade Holman to talk about the latest technology and trends in store-based retail loss prevention. Tom, Wade, welcome to The Voice of Retail podcast. How's everybody doing?
Tom Meehan 00:26
Great. Thanks for having us.
Wade Holman 00:28
Yeah, great, Mike. Thank you.
Michael LeBlanc 00:29
Great timing to have a conversation and thank you both for taking time to join me. So, why don't we, why don't we start from the beginning. Let's start with you. Tom, tell me about who you are, a bit of your background, and what you do for a living. I was checking out on LinkedIn, my goodness, what an interesting diverse background, loss prevention, technology, law enforcement, podcasting.
Tom Meehan 00:52
I started my journey, probably not in your typical retail way. You know, I grew up thinking I would be in technology my whole entire life and started in the mid to late 90s, at some networking companies and worked on my own for a little bit. And sold those companies by today's standards that doesn't mean much. It just meant that my buddies and I decided that we wanted to do something else and let someone take the business over. I did a little bit in Law Enforcement Investigations while working in retail part time. That's how I got into it, various jobs in retail. Throughout my career in retail, most of them were in asset protection,
Michael LeBlanc 01:11
Yeah.
Tom Meehan 01:12
I did have some finance and investigations roles and really had a great, great time. I spent a little bit over 22 years in retail and then switched over to the solution provider side with ControlTek, I guess, about 10 years ago. I really wanted to get, not actually a little bit longer, but I really wanted to get into the industry. I got involved in pretty much anything I could from, you know, trade shows to different organizations and associations, volunteering, and really trying to figure out how to tackle this loss challenge within retail. And I was fortunate in one sense that I got to go through this crazy evolution. You know, I tell a lot of folks, my kids, I tell them all the time that when I started my first retail job, there were no real cell phones. Yeah, there were cell phones,
Michael LeBlanc 02:03
Yeah.
Tom Meehan 02:04
Around, but no one really had them. We didn't have email, we carried pagers, and although there definitely were websites, there certainly wasn't any, you know, shopping online. So, I got to live through this, this evolution of technology and retail, from the first IP video cameras to .com to all of these wonderful things, which really put me in a unique place.
Michael LeBlanc 02:40
And, where are we finding you today? Where are you and where is ControlTek based?
Tom Meehan 02:44
So, I am in our headquarters in New Jersey. We also have an office in Northern California in the Bay Area. And then, you know, we're kind of all over North America. But those are the two most common places that people know about. We have an office in Toronto, as well. And then we have a DC in the Montreal area, a distribution center in Chicago, and then California, and then another one on the East Coast. So, we're spread out and we have folks all over North America.
Michael LeBlanc 03:12
You bring up such an interesting point. I mean, looking at your background, you've got Home Depot, you got Bloomingdale's. I mean, I remember the days I've been in retail, a little bit too, where if you walked into a retail store with a camera and started taking pictures, you were quickly introduced to some LP professionals. That's so different now, right? I mean, everybody wants you to do that. Not just the technology. But I guess the challenges in the, and the operating environment that have changed so much. What in your mind, in, in your experience has been the biggest change? Do you think material affects the role today? Not even the role but the, the profession of loss prevention?
Tom Meehan 03:49
But I would say technology, but that's too low of an answer. Believe it or not, I think social media had probably the most profound impact on retail, both from the good and the bad. You know, I probably would have said a smartphone years ago, but the reality is the smartphone is the tool. But the ability for everybody to be a reporter, everybody has a high-definition camera in their hand. And they can create a narrative negative or positive that can really spiral out of control. Without, without the retailer having any say, and you hit it spot on. I remember, we used to actually approach people that were,
Michael LeBlanc 04:25
Sure.
Tom Meehan 04:26
Taping in our stores. That was what we're told to do.
Michael LeBlanc 04:32
Yeah, either they were competition or they're, you know, doing some other things more, more nefarious. So much, so much changed. So, interesting and again, that's why I'm looking forward so much to the conversation. Now. Wade, tell me about yourself. I think you're the Canadian representative. You're the leader here in Canada. Tell me a bit about you and what's your background and where are you based?
Wade Holman 04:51
Yeah, that's right, Michael. I'm the Director of Sales here in Canada. And when ControlTek launched about a year and a half ago, I took the position. And I've got a long history of, of being on the retail vendor side. I started my career back in oh, probably 90-91, or 92 as an operator, dispatching alarms in a call center, and kind of worked my way up, up on the retail side of the vendor side of the business through a couple of different providers here in Canada. And I worked on, on that side in, in operations and then kind of worked my way into the national account role of being a liaison between the company and, and the retailer.
Michael LeBlanc 05:36
As I said, the timing for this conversation is great for a number of different reasons. I mean, ripped from the headlines, as you would say, in the famous TV show. You know, we've got a CEO last week, a major retail CEO talking about just a tremendous increase in theft, that, that could risk stores, results in store openings. We've heard that from another couple of retailers in the States. And, you know, they, I thought I saw some numbers like 50% increase, which, you know, boggles my mind, you know, taken at face value. But let's talk about, you know, let's back up and talk about trends that you're seeing Tom in, in, in retail LP. Are you seeing that kind of increase in, in numbers? Are you see-, like, what are the big trends that you're seeing, if not even year-over-year, but what's, what's for-, first and foremost on the folks minds that you're talking to in the retail community?
Tom Meehan 06:25
There's definitely an increase in, in shrink. There's certainly this, I would say that it's not a US, just a US problem. But it's definitely something that's happening more in the US, or at least we're hearing more about it, is organized retail crime. And it, it, it, definitely was exasperated by COVID. And then some of the political challenges throughout the globe. So, we're seeing this huge influx. And I think everybody we talk to, we, we kind of have the same theme. I don't know that I talked to anybody in the retail space today that doesn't have an organized retail crime challenge of some level.
Michael LeBlanc 07:07
Sure.
Tom Meehan 07:08
And while I think they would say before they saw pockets of it, they're starting to really see challenges with it. And then there are some challenges again, exasperated by COVID of the way law enforcement interacts with the public and some things that occur and you know, ControlTek has been around for almost 50 years. So, some of our customers have been customers of ours for more than 25 years. And so when you're talking to them, I often ask, especially if it's someone that's been there for a long time, what are you seeing that's different? And I think, you know, a little bit generalizing, but it's kind of the perfect storm, right? Pandemic, political turmoil and that's a global ch-, challenge, supply chain challenges, all of these things happening at the same time, really brings a lot of that out to the forefront, but it's, you know, definitely happening.
Michael LeBlanc 07:55
Yeah. Yeah. Well, I want to, I want to get back to that. I got a few more follow-up questions. But I kind of skipped ahead a little bit. I want to go back a couple of clicks. Tell me more about ControlTek, you mentioned or if you've been around for a while. So, what's the origin story, scope, scale? Where do you operate? And importantly, what makes you different?
Tom Meehan 08:12
Yeah, so the ControlTek has been around since 1976. So, for-, this is our47th year and second generation, privately held company. So, it started as a family business, a very, very grassroots story, that you know our founder, worked in industry, and we started out really catering to financial institutions back in the 70s. And then we had a lot of, you know, innovative steps throughout the last 47 years, we talk about a commitment to innovation.
Tom Meehan 08:29
But for instance, one of the things that really happened in the banking and cash security world was that we were the first folks to have a tamper-evident disposable cash bag, we had a patent on the first coin bag, the first triple lock, tamper-evident bag. And today we're considered the global leader in tamper-evident packaging specific to cash. So, one of the things with that is great, great success there. And in that, I would say, you know, we're certainly our focus is North America. And it has been in that space for a long time. We do have a global footprint there, but it's through distribution.
Tom Meehan 09:04
Then about 12 years ago, we, through really just natural meeting with our customers. We got into ES and RFID and asset protection solutions. And it was a natural progression for us. We were helping retailers and financial institutions, and some of the largest in the world, protect money, protect their cash. And through that evolution went into this retail space and traditional EIS and then transitioned to RFID for asset tracking and inventory management. And you know, what really makes us different is our people and I think everybody says that, but I think when, when I sit here today, we have the perfect mix of engineers, the right sales folks, industry folks, and we're extremely deliberate and focused, you'll notice compared to a lot of people in the space, we don't do video, alarms, burglary, you know, that's not what we do. We're really hyper-focused on cash security and that tamper-evident packaging division. And in our retail division, we're really focused on product protection and RFID. And, you know, we've had a lot of success, because when you're hyper-focused, you can do things quickly and efficiently. And we've had tons of success. And you know, we're really excited to have Wade join, because over the years, we've had customers in Canada. But you know, about two years ago, we said, No, you know, we're, we're, we need to focus on the totality of North America, we've had tremendous success in Canada. We have a footprint there, a DC there, we have folks working there. And before, you know, three years ago, all of our business North was through partners in the United States. So, we do, do some global business outside of North America, but we're really focused on North America.
Michael LeBlanc 11:03
So, Wade you bring the domestic expertise from, from all this expertise up into Canada. How long, remind me again, how long you've been, you know, not how long, but the kind of scope and scale for your, your remiss, Is this across Canada, you're in all the provinces Tell me a little bit about that.
Wade Holman 11:26
I've, I've had a footprint in Canada for a long time, working with a lot of Canadian retailers. And it's kind of what brought Tom and I together a few years back with the, you know, the opportunity for some of, you know, some of the customers that we were doing business within the US who actually had stores in Canada. And wanting to,
Michael LeBlanc 11:45
Sure.
Wade Holman 11:46
Have a single source provider to look after them on both sides of the border. And, you know, one of the things we focused on, the main things that we focus-, focused on with the Canadian retailers being such a unique small, close community was to provide them with the things that sets us apart. And, you know, the first thing that we talked about, and the one of the very first things that we did was set up distribution within the country. So, that we could provide them with, you know, product distribution within the walls of Canada, which is a big,
Michael LeBlanc 12:13
Sure.
Wade Holman 12:14
One of the big challenges for Canadian retailers.
Michael LeBlanc 12:17
Yeah.
Wade Holman 12:18
And, you know, we've, like Tom mentioned, we've, we've, we've been very focused on the approach that we took with the delivery piece. And we've really focused on the customers that we're doing business with here. And we've done a really, really good job. And we've got a really nice footprint that we've laid in the country.
Michael LeBlanc 12:39
Talk about Wade, the size of business that you like to work with, of course, all customers are great. But sometimes, you know, as you said, Tom, as you were saying, focus is a good thing. Is there a specific size? Small, mid, large, what, what is there a, is there some kind of metric? Do you say that there'll be a better fit if the retailer is X, Y, or Z? Tell me a bit about that?
Wade Holman 13:00
No, I mean, we look at all customers as an opportunity for us to grow the brand. You know, especially in my region of Canada, you know, we have retailers of all, you know, various sizes, it's not the same type of footprint that we have in the United States
Michael LeBlanc 13:14
Indies to Canadian and multinational, right. (Crossover talk), you've chalked the field a bit. Yeah. Yeah, that works,
Wade Holman 13:20
Absolutely. I mean, all retailers in Canada are important. And you know, we can have a retailer with 10 locations and retailers with 1000s locations. And for us, we look at them all the same, it's an opportunity for us to grow the brand and, and for us to provide you know that, that shotgun approach that we take to all of our customers.
Michael LeBlanc 13:39
Tom, I want to get back to our conversation about trends and increases and, and it's, you know, I know you guys have a focus, but you also live in the world of LP. It feels like some days these big jumps have something to do with an intersection between self-checkout, between the platforms to fence the goods, between law enforcement, we had a great law enforcement win here last week in Canada, the Halton police broke up a retail theft gang seizing millions. But you know, the three of these things all intersect together, economics comes into play, you know, when you, when you hear of increases like that, what, what first comes to your mind, in terms of the trend that that's happening in the store? You mentioned a few obviously COVID and geopolitical stuff and all kinds of different stuff, but is, am I on the right track here that the changing in the way that stores operate is leading to changes in the way that ORC approaches retail theft?
Tom Meehan 14:35
Yeah, I think there's an evolution that's going on. I think, first and foremost, you know, podcasts like yours. If you're asset protection, professional education, awareness is probably the key, in my opinion, to success, you know, the human side of it. So, hearing what's working, networking, and getting together with people is really so important. I couldn't stress enough the constant learning side of it, because, you know, technology won't solve it if you don't know what's working and what's not. And I think there are environmental changes that in some cases make it easier for you know, a bad actor to go in and be nefarious. And I think that you, we know that right, for as long as I've been involved in this, you know, when you build something, you always have to build that better mousetrap. I think the nefarious actors are doing the same research, they're listening to the same podcast, they have their own networks to say, Hey, (crossover talk), so and so,
Michael LeBlanc 15:33
If there are any bad guys, listen to this podcast. Stop listening right now, tune out. Shout out to the bad guys.
Tom Meehan 15:40
Yeah, yeah, I think but it's interesting, because for all of the information that we share on podcasts like this, it isn't hard to find the bad guys talking on forums, whether it be on social media, Reddit, 4chan, and really, it works both ways. I don't think that's changed as much. I think the speed in which technology can be implemented sometimes causes, you know, stress for retailers and for customers, for that matter, right. Like, if you're a customer, you want the transaction to be as frictionless as possible, you want them to,
Michael LeBlanc 16:29
Yeah.
Tom Meehan 16:30
Have a great experience. And you know, I often say this, a retailer's job is not, job one is not to address that. Job one is to make that shopping experience, both enjoyable and easy. And as you make things easier, sometimes you open yourself up to, to more loss, self-checkout is not new. I remember it, I think it was 20 years, (crossover talk). When I started in Home Depot, we were launching it, you know, so it's out there, it's evolving, it's changed. I think,
Michael LeBlanc 16:45
We've never seen it so deployed, though. I mean, I was in a, I was in a Target store in New York and SoHo, and there were four full checkouts and 14, 15, 17 self-checkouts. I mean, it's been around for a while. But it's, it's really started to pick up momentum in terms of, you know, percentage done through that, that particular POS. Yeah?
Tom Meehan 17:05
Yeah, absolutely. And I think that that, I don't know that that's by design, we all know that there's been some labor challenges. So, if you're a retailer today, and you need to stay open, you need to figure out how to, how can I be efficient and, and utilize it? And I'm not, you know, what I often say about self-checkout, as I'm not a, a dis-, in disagreement, so there's a necessity to have it, it's what technology can you use? How do you keep the shopping experience positive? But I think you mentioned, you know, you know, some of the ORC cases, and then just, just the recent, there has been a couple of big recent ones, both in Canada and the US, where you have, you know, literally a couple million dollars of seizures. Though, the pieces that I think that those are really impactful because the bad guys, do you see that? And,
Michael LeBlanc 18:22
Yeah.
Tom Meehan 18:23
You know, if there's a perception that people are going to disrupt their business then it needs to change, you know, they, they, they really do recognize that it's the risk reward, right? That's always what it is, when you're talking about theft, the perception of am I going to get caught? And what's the, what's the risk of getting caught versus the reward? And then I think we just, we can't shy away from, you know, 20 years ago, you had when you took something, you had to do something with it, right? You went to the flea market. And now you have just an (crossover talk) abundant amount of waste.
Michael LeBlanc 18:37
Yeah.
Tom Meehan 18:38
Facebook, Marketplace, eBay, Amazon, Poshmark. You just have all of these eComm type places that just make it easier to distribute things, E-Fencing is a real thing, right? You no longer have to find the outlet. You know, there's multiple outlets for you.
Michael LeBlanc 18:48
Wade, what are you hearing on this side of the border? You, you work in both the US and Canada, have been working for ControlTek? What, are you hearing anything different? Or anything you wanted to add to the commentary around trends, (crossover talk) that may be different?
Wade Holman 19:01
Yeah, I think the, you know, I think that the takedown that happened in Halton, you know, last week is, (crossover talk).
Michael LeBlanc 19:08
Great police work, (crossover talk) great policing.
Wade Holman 19:10
I mean, it's, it's, there used to be a time where in Canada, we didn't have that much impact on some of these things like they do in the United States. And now all of a sudden, it's, it's changed and, and, and we're getting more and more, and more of those types of events here. So, it's becoming an even bigger problem than it has been in the past for sure. In Canada.
Michael LeBlanc 19:31
Tom let's get back to innovation. You said it's one of the hallmarks of ControlTek. So, what does innovation look like? There's lots of ways to address all these challenges. And what are you doing to help address what you focus on and, and talk about what innovation looks like at ControlTek?
Tom Meehan 19:47
Yeah, innovation at ControlTek is, is, is not just about creating the ne-, next new thing. It's just as much about working side-by-side whether our clients understand, you know, how we can, you know, help them. One of the things we do at ControlTek that I also think is a differentiator is we practice a design-thinking methodology where we really, really listen and understand what the customers challenge is or the clients’ challenges. And then we help side-by-side working to develop a solution. It might be a product, might be that it might be just a way to implement something different, it could be a way to distribute something differently.
Tom Meehan 20:15
I think, you know, tactically, we're looking at, you know, with the advances in technology today, how can we get data to our clients in real time, so that they can make decisions using sensors like Lidar, and Radar, and all these different types of sensors that are much more readily available, and combining them with you know, what you would say, are traditional technologies like RFID and EIS, but I think it comes down to really set it. sitting down with your client collaborating, and truly understanding the challenge, you know, I have years of experience in retail, a lot of it in the luxury space, you know, so I feel pretty confident, you know, comfortable. If you had a question about luxury, that I would have an idea. But outside of that, you know, everybody has a different challenge. And when you're a multi, a multifaceted company, that becomes a global company, you know, regions in countries have different challenges based on a lot of different things. So, it's all about the collaboration with the end user and the client.
Michael LeBlanc 21:26
Wade, when you look at the product or service offerings coming out of ControlTek, what, what jumps in your mind this year? Give me a, you know, put your hands on something tangible? What is it, we heard from Tom a couple of great things around cash management and RFID? You know, land one of those for me?
Wade Holman 21:42
You know, the one thing that sets us apart from most others in the industry is the fact that we take an agnostic approach to all of our technology. So, we don't, we don't have just one type of solution for a retailer, you know, retailers have been implementing EIS solutions in their stores for years and years. And we take an approach to be agnostic. So, if you know, if a customer has one particular technology, we can support them, if they have another technology, we can also support them. I think the one thing that's really taken a big jump for us, you know, in the last year is our RFID technology. You know, we retailers are more concerned now about the landscape of their stores, the way they look. And RFID is playing a big role, not in just, not just in inventory control, and, and, and accountability for what's available in the store, but also from an EIS standpoint. So, I think, from my perspective, the RFID technology has taken leaps and bounds in the last couple of years. And we feel that we're at the forefront of that.
Michael LeBlanc 22:46
All right, Tom give some advice to retailers and I'm going to put it in a frame of two starts and one stop. So, two things they should start doing right now: perhaps they're already doing it, perhaps not. And one thing they should stop, maybe just do less of or something's not working, as well as it used to what, what comes to mind for you?
Tom Meehan 23:01
So, I think the first one is to get involved, you know, get involved in industry associations, get involved in anything where you can network and share information and ideas. And then the second one is to really challenge yourself to continuously learn. So, they sound the same, but they're different, you know, listen to podcasts, read, watch videos, that there's a lot changing, there's this, this huge evolution in the world, this hyper-digitization, some of it is based, you know, on some of the events that came from COVID, but you know, really take the time to learn.
Tom Meehan 23::38
And then stop. Stop worrying about the things that you really can't control. You know, I often have conversations, I'm very fortunate with you know, sometimes hundreds of people a month, some I know, some I've never met. I travel a lot and I often hear people really worried about the things that are 1000% outside of their control. And they spend a lot of time trying to solve that thing that they're, you know, there is no solution for. So, tho-, that's kind of my advice to folks and yeah there's definitely some tactical things but you know focus on what you can control not what you can't, get involved, don't stop learning. Wise advice. Wade. last words of wisdom to you. What's the best way for listeners to get in touch with you and ControlTek and then generally keep up with the insights that are coming out of your shop?
Wade Holman 24:26
Yeah, absolutely. We can be reached on our website, it's controltekusa.com obviously and I can be reached there too. My personal email is wade.holman@controltekusa.com.
Michael LeBlanc 24:40
Very good and, and are you both LinkedIn folks? Should, (inaudible) are you active on social media and from that perspective?
Wade Holman 24:47
Yes, absolutely. LinkedIn Of course. All right. Well, listen,
Michael LeBlanc 24:50
Tom, Wade, thanks so much for joining me on The Voice of Retail. An interesting dive into, into LP and what you folks do with it and, and the services you offer? So, thanks so much for joining me on the podcast. I wish you both a great 2023 as we are almost ready to turn the page and look forward to keeping in touch with whatever you bring to the market. So, thanks again for joining me.
Tom Meehan 24:51
Thank you, Michael.
Wade Holman 24:51
Thank you for having us.
Michael LeBlanc 24:51
Thanks for tuning into this special episode of The Voice of Retail. If you haven't already, be sure and click on subscribe on your favorite podcast platform so new episodes will land automatically twice a week. And check out my other retail industry media properties, the Remarkable Retail podcast, Conversations with CommerceNext podcast and The Food Professor podcast with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois. Last but not least, if you're into barbecue, check out my all new YouTube barbecue show Last Request Barbecue with new episodes each and every week.
Michael LeBlanc 25:13
I'm your host, Michael LeBlanc, President of M.E. LeBlanc Company & Maven Media. And if you're looking for more content or want to chat, follow me on LinkedIn or visit my website at meleblanc.com.
Have a safe week everyone.
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
retail, retailers, challenges, Canada, technology, podcast, customers, tom, tamper-evident, RFID, control, tech, folks, store, self-checkout, talking, business, years, focused, people