With more than 500 stores and with sales approaching US$4 billion, Burlington Coat Factory, one of the largest clothing retailers in the U.S. and Puerto Rico, recently upgraded from an analog video surveillance system to an IP-based system consisting of Wavestore VMS, 15 to 25 VIVOTEK 360 degree cameras, and 5-10 Axis Communications IP fixed mini-domes at each of its 200 stores. “The company has also upgraded its electronic article surveillance systems and expanded in store burglar alarm coverage,” said James Connolly, Senior VP, Asset Protection, Burlington. The project was implemented by system integrator, American Integrated Security Group (AISG). The contract to supply the video recording and management solution for Burlington’s upgrade program was awarded to Wavestore before it opened a US office.
With more than 500 stores and with sales approaching US$4 billion, Burlington Coat Factory, one of the largest clothing retailers in the U.S. and Puerto Rico, recently upgraded from an analog video surveillance system to an IP-based system consisting of Wavestore VMS, 15 to 25 VIVOTEK 360 degree cameras, and 5-10 Axis Communications IP fixed mini-domes at each of its 200 stores. “The company has also upgraded its electronic article surveillance systems and expanded in store burglar alarm coverage,” said James Connolly, Senior VP, Asset Protection, Burlington. The project was implemented by system integrator, American Integrated Security Group (AISG). The contract to supply the video recording and management solution for Burlington's upgrade program was awarded to Wavestore before it opened a US office.
The company decided to make a substantial investment to improve and standardize the video surveillance at its stores by replacing equipment which had been sourced during the last 20 years from a number of different manufacturers. “The decision to upgrade video surveillance capabilities is one of several significant measures the company has employed to address shortage issues in stores and provide a platform for additional use focused on marketing, operations and safety,” said Connolly.
The ONVIF profile S conformant VMS is able to simultaneously record images captured by combinations of analog, IP, megapixel, HD and 360 degree cameras. “Every retailer has some kind of analog system that still works,” said Levy Acs, President and CTO of retailing solutions specialist AISG. “The biggest challenge is to save as much as possible from the existing system and investments while upgrading to an IP platform.” The integrator designed a modular system so when the retailer moves to a completely IP system, the infrastructure is ready and the video recording solution can switch automatically without hardware change or licensing fees.
“The option of relocating and expanding the system was a key requirement from the customer due to the constantly changing landscape in a retail store,” said Acs. “The ability to achieve this was enhanced by implementation of a flexible IP-based camera system.”
The VMS de-warping feature is supporting the VIVOTEK 360 degree cameras that have been installed by AISG to replace eight analog cameras that previously covered the store's check-outs. Burlington's management's satisfaction with the success of phase one of the upgrade program, which has seen shrinkage being reduced in some stores by as much as 90 percent, has resulted in AISG being tasked to progress with phase two, which will see another 150 stores equipped with Wavestore during 2013, and there are also plans to equip three of the company's distribution centers and a proposed new corporate headquarters in Florence, New Jersey.