Here in California, this was policy for years at Fry's Electronics. Other stores have picked it up since. I think this is because the stores that do this are those that sell so much stuff at such huge volumes that it isn't practical to use the door detectors and little radio tags (removed by clerks) that have long been commonplace in clothing stores, book stores, and many others.

When I go to Wal-Mart, they check EVERYBODY'S receipt. It takes about ten seconds, you get a little HiLiter mark on your receipt, and it's obvious that most of the checkers aren't being all that thorough about it.

Small political comment (skip if you like):

Wal-Mart is a Cultural Public Enemy right now for one reason alone: It won't unionize. If they went union, you would see all the evil stories about them vanish like morning dew.

Remember, with about 1.4 million employees, and average dues of $7 a week for employees making $9 an hour or less, we're talking about something like half a billion dollars a year flowing into union coffers, and a nice percentage of that flowing into the Democratic Party's bank account.

Follow the money.