You signed the lease, ordered inventory, and lined up your grand opening. Somewhere on the list, usually near the bottom, sits "security." Then the first jacket walks out the door and it jumps to the top.
The good news is that outfitting a store with Electronic Article Surveillance is a short, concrete checklist. Work through these seven steps in order and you will open with your merchandise protected from day one.
1. Pick your technology
Everything in an EAS setup has to speak the same language, so this decision comes first. The two technologies are AM, which runs at 58 kHz and is associated with Sensormatic, and RF, which runs at 8.2 MHz and is associated with Checkpoint. They are not interchangeable: the pedestals, tags, labels, and checkout tools all have to match.
Which one is right depends on what you sell and how your store is built. Our AM vs. RF guide walks through the tradeoffs, but the short version is that both protect apparel and general merchandise well, while stores full of metal fixtures or foil packaging usually do better with AM. If you are taking over a space that already has pedestals, identify what technology they are before you buy anything else.
2. Measure your entrance
Pedestal coverage is set by your door width, so measure the full clear opening of every public entrance. A single door and a wide mall storefront are very different jobs: wider entrances take more than one pedestal, and the two technologies cover different widths. Write the measurements down. Whoever specs your system will ask for them first.
3. Choose your system
You can buy pedestals individually, but for a first store the simpler route is a package that bundles the detection system with the tags, labels, and checkout tools to match. We build them by store type, from department stores and pharmacies to optical shops, dispensaries, hardware stores, and beauty supply. Most of our packages include professional installation, like the EAS AM Security System Package, which arrives with a deactivator, labels, tags, and a detacher. If you would rather handle setup yourself, the Self-Install Clothing Store Package is built for that.
4. Stock your consumables
Tags and labels are what actually guard the merchandise, and you want enough on hand to cover your opening inventory. The split is simple: reusable hard tags for open merchandise like apparel, and adhesive labels for anything boxed, carded, or sealed. Our hard tags vs. labels guide covers how to divide your stock between them.
Browse AM hard tags or RF hard tags to match your system, labels in both technologies, plus pins, lanyards for items you cannot pierce, and ink pins if you want benefit denial on your highest theft items.
5. Equip the counter
Checkout needs two tools: a detacher to remove hard tags and a deactivator for labels as items are rung up. Plan where each one lives. The deactivator sits in the scanning path so no label gets missed, and the detacher should be mounted or secured at the register, out of customer reach.
6. Rough in the electrical
This is the step that surprises most first time owners. Detection systems need dedicated power, and it has to be in place before the system goes in. The specification, from our system product pages:
- A dedicated 120 VAC circuit: 3 wire, grounded, shielded, with 24 hour unswitched power and less than 0.5 VAC between neutral and ground.
- The outlet located 6" to 12" above the floor, with the circuit breaker labeled "EAS" at the panel.
- For dual pedestal systems sharing one power supply: 3/4" metal conduit (EMT or rigid, no PVC) with a pull string, run under the floor, with pedestals set no more than 72" center to center.
Hand that list to your electrician while the store is still under construction. Dedicated electric must be installed to specification before system installation, or the warranty is void, and cutting into a finished floor costs far more than roughing in conduit early.
7. Set your process before the doors open
Equipment only works when the routine around it does. Decide who tags incoming merchandise and where each tag goes on the garment, so placement is consistent. Make sure every alarm gets a response, even during a rush. And train everyone at the register on the detacher and deactivator before the first customer, not after. Our loss prevention guide goes deeper on pairing process with technology.
The short version
- Pick AM or RF, and match everything to it.
- Measure every public entrance.
- Choose a package sized to your store type.
- Order enough tags and labels for opening inventory.
- Put a detacher and deactivator at the register.
- Give your electrician the power spec early.
- Train the team before the doors open.
Opening soon?
HarryG Security has supplied EAS gear to store owners since 2004, and our packages bundle the whole checklist, from the pedestals at the door to the detacher at the counter, so nothing gets forgotten. Tell us what you sell, how wide your entrance is, and when you open, and we will help you spec the whole checklist in one conversation.