Floor walkers have become a popular point of conversation on TikTok recently. These are employees, usually at large retail stores, who often dress in plain clothes and discreetly follow customers around while they’re shopping. Are they something to be concerned about? TikToker Logan Moore (@loganr_moore) says no.
Moore recently shared several videos on the topic, hoping to help people feel less anxious about the idea of floor walkers.
“You don’t have to be scared of floor walkers when you’re shopping at Target,” he says in one TikTok that’s been viewed 329,200 times. “As long as you’re not shoplifting, you really don’t have to worry.”
What do ‘floor walkers’ do?
Floor walkers aren’t a new concept, but the rise of social media and normalizing the sharing images and videos of unnerving strangers encountered in public may have drawn more attention to them in recent years. Floor walkers themselves even spend time exchanging tips for how to appear less conspicuous and catch shoplifters.
As Moore pointed out in one video, they might even follow customers into the store and have been following them around from the moment they arrived, to better sell the appearance of just being a shopper themselves.
“Have you ever been in a store and followed by a floor walker? Possibly,” Moore says. “You may not even have known about it. And guess what? As long as you weren’t stealing, they have nothing. Their only job as a floor walker, or asset protection, is to make sure you’re not stealing.”
That doesn’t mean floor walkers stop customers from stealing. Rather, Moore says, they quietly record proof, which can be used in court if the company decides to press charges in the future.
“First of all, don’t shoplift. Second of all, if…there’s somebody following you around and you were planning on shoplifting, you make sure you pay for it or you put it back,” he suggests. “Don’t walk out of the store if you see somebody following you around.”
The comments section of Moore’s Target TikTok was filled with people sharing their own experiences and frustrations with floor walkers.
“I used to be a couponer. For some reason they always followed me. So I started talking to them, finally asked one guy if he wanted to just walk with me instead of one [aisle] away.” recalled one user
“I always ask floor walkers to hold my stuff or to help me find things. companies don’t have enough employees to help, but they have floor walkers,” one user complained.
Another joked, “Hope they enjoy going back and forth to [aisles] bc I get so indecisive at times.”
Customers remain concerned
Despite Moore’s attempts at reassuring viewers that only shoplifters should be concerned about floor walkers, it’s obvious the concept still leaves a lot of people uneasy.
“I get scared sometimes like putting my phone or keys in my pockets. Like my phone in and out of a pocket. I try to make it obvious that it isn’t a store item but it makes me anxious,” wrote one user.
“I’ve noticed Dillards has [a] floor walker,” another chimed in. “It is so uncomfortable to have someone following. I can’t even look around comfortably.”
“I just don’t like strangers getting into my bubble or perceiving me that’s why I shop online,” admitted a third.
@loganr_moore Replying to @Noeynowhere #greenscreen Have you seen floor walkers following you? Target has floor walkers just like Walmart. #floorwalkers #target #antitheft ♬ original sound – Logan Moore
And another comment pointed out a more serious concern: “Floor walker hired by target? Or a random stalker who wants to traffic you. Can’t tell these days.”
And Moore himself seemed to agree with that.
“It’s always best to be on your guard these days,” he admitted in a follow-up video. “You don’t know who anybody is.”
The Daily Dot has reached out to Moore via TikTok comment and Target via email.
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