Smile, you're on social media
Social media is helping boutiques identify shoplifters faster than the police.
Good afternoon everyone.
Every day I’m surprised by the speed at which the information ecosystem is changing. Last night, at a (surprisingly) intimate dinner hosted by a Canadian bank at Soho House, the 16-person table was evenly split between journalists and creators, with Milk Bag placed directly in the middle to bridge both sides.
It’s refreshing, and rare, to see a guest list that so accurately reflects the state of Canadian media. More often these days, I’ve seen companies de-prioritize relationships with traditional media to focus on creator partnerships, when there really should be room for everyone at the—in this case, literal—table.
In today’s newsletter: Social media is helping identify shoplifters, Sonder is shutting down, Toronto Star journalists bought cocaine from a Facebook ad.
Social media is finding shoplifters faster than the police
It was not an easy decision to post a photo of the woman who made away with roughly $2,000 of merchandise on the afternoon of October 25, Pam Willcocks, the owner of Snapdragon, tells me. She’s not interested in putting anyone on blast, but her boutique has been robbed enough for her to know that the police were unlikely to recover the stolen items. The evidence was iron-clad: one minute, several items destined for the store’s second location in Midtown Toronto sat on a display table. By the next, they were gone.
When Willcocks woke up the next morning, her post had garnered 300,000 views and the woman in the video had been correctly identified by at least 12 people. Using social media can be effective, but it puts business owners in the difficult position of taking law enforcement into their own hands when facing rising theft that can total five-figures a year. Missteps can prompt backlash, but Allen Malloy from Danny Jewellers, in Toronto’s east end, says such posts can also have the unintended effect of driving business through the door.
The photo was swiftly removed once contact was made (Willcocks asked me not to publish the woman’s face), and they privately settled on an amount to be donated to a homeless shelter in Muskoka, in addition to covering the cost of the stolen goods. A Toronto police spokesperson told me shoplifting is not tracked as a distinct category (under ‘theft under $5,000’), but sent me a list of measures that can “target harden” stores, including locked-door policies and better surveillance technology. I have a feeling nobody signed up for this.
News
Knix launched a men’s underwear line called MNTD. The Globe and Mail reported that the Canadian apparel maker is entering a crowded category where women still make up a big share of purchasing power. A campaign with Joanna Griffiths’ husband Dave Barber and head of product Steven Hudson will look to sway buyers away from brands like Saxx and SKIMS.
There’s no shortage of companies trying to capture spending dollars from men who really just want FanDuel credits and a new driver.
Quiet luxury is Ling Tang making it to the Maclean’s list of billionaires without a headshot. He invested in AppLovin, a U.S. mobile tech firm.
People are furious that Coco’s, a coffee and pastry shop in Little Italy, is closing. The owner, Nicole Bilyea, said that she has not been able to find a new lease after being told her landlord’s sister will take over the space to open a homeopathy clinic. It’s generally a sad time in restaurant news:
Matty Matheson’s Bar Clams is closing less than a year after opening, and Rasta Pasta’s Kensington Market location is also shutting down.
Sonder is “winding down operations” six years after the Wall Street Journal called it a serious competitor to Airbnb. A Marriott partnership that kept the company alive as it struggled to recover after the pandemic abruptly ended on Sunday, with some guests saying they were kicked out of properties mid-stay. I had (mostly) great experiences with Sonder, but a model that relied on ownership proved to be challenging to navigate.
Karon Liu found a place that sells $5 avocado toasts inside Queen’s Park.
Those who find themselves out of a federal government job can explore opportunities with the Canadian Forces instead. A restructuring plan impacting federal workers coincides with a military recruitment push.
Team Canada hockey jerseys for the upcoming Winter Olympics have been unveiled before the (full) team itself. This is not a sports newsletter, but I do know readers are starting to speculate on who will fill the roster.
Canadian retailers are expanding to splashy shopping streets. Canada Goose opened on Champs-Élysées last month, and tween retailer Garage is opening its first U.K. store on Oxford Street sometime next year.
Toronto Star reporters ordered cocaine off Facebook to prove how easy it is. An investigation uncovered the flaws in Meta’s policies to ban ads that promote the selling of illegal drugs, which, after ordered, arrived in a plastic container labelled “regular coke” and included a $20 referral code.
