A Walmart shopper claims he was recently targeted by a trio of floor walkers—employees hired by the company to monitor for shoplifting. And he’s claiming it’s not the first time it’s happened.
TikTok creator @bigbagspenny616 has drawn more than 757,000 views as of Monday morning. It’s similar to one he posted earlier this month, leading the Daily Dot to write a story covering the encounter.
In this one, he enters the store and notices someone that he suspects is a floor walker.
“Walmart must think I’m some type of mastermind because they put three floor walkers on me again today,” he says. “Did you see the way that guy turned around and profiled me?”
He walks through the store and sees others who seem suspicious to him.
“I’m just an average Joe who wants to spend his money here,” he says, “but I couldn’t help but notice the guy in the front came from inside the store. And that guy’s got an earpiece. They think they’re super slick, but I already know the game they’re running.”
He also notices a man wearing sunglasses indoors with a box of Froot Loops in his cart. This also rings an alarm bell for him.
Then, as he turns down an aisle toward a display of TVs for sale, he notices one man who particularly concerns him.
“This is where I almost call 911, I see this guy lurking at the end of the hall,” he says. “At this point in my shopping trip, I’m starting to think they’re gonna take me.”
He then suggests going to the front desk to ask for help, and concludes, “Just pretend I’m a woman. What would you do?”
What is a floor walker?
The same creator claims he had a floor walker job at Walmart before being fired from it, which could explain why he focuses on the topic so much in his content.
This past August, the Daily Dot covered his video explaining his job. In it, the creator says, “We’re always stationed in our cars. When you pull in, that’s when we get the go-ahead to follow you into the store. This gives the illusion that we arrived at the store at the same time.”
He claims that floor walkers at a Walmart store track anywhere between 50 to 200 customers a day, and film anyone they suspect of trying to steal from the store.
The Street, writing an article on the same topic, titled, “Walmart’s sneaky tactic to prevent theft,” covered the same video, adding, “Walmart loses $3 billion per year due to theft, while over 900,000 shoplifting incidents take place at its U.S. stores annually.”
It also dug up a 2016 lawsuit in which a Florida woman asserted she was falsely accused of stealing by a Walmart employee.
It’s still a hot topic
Comments indicated, despite more than one video on the subject in his repertoire, that people still want to talk about it.
“Floorwalkers exist actually, but I highly doubt any of those guys are,” one said. “We usually follow teens or notorious/repeated thieves.”
“Those who saying floorwalkers aren’t a thing, it is,” another claimed. “I’ve worked in Walmart and even talked with the floorwalkers and seen them do their job while I stalked or did my job. They look for suspicious ppl.”
“Go ask for a manager and let them know that someone keeps following you,” one suggested, “and you need to call 911 cause your phone died and you think they’re trying to rob you.”
Someone else had a strategy ready. “I walk fast in the store because a) I’m impatient b) so that the floor walkers can get some more steps in for the day.”
@bigbagspenny616 Three floorwalkers follow me in and around the store #floorwalkers #walmart ♬ original sound – BigBagSpenny
The Daily Dot has reached out to the creator via TikTok direct message and to Walmart via email.
Internet culture is chaotic—but we’ll break it down for you in one daily email. Sign up for the Daily Dot’s web_crawlr newsletter here. You’ll get the best (and worst) of the internet straight into your inbox.
