SCANNING: 'Tis the season to listen to stores

Holiday shoppers create an additional demand on retail outlets; tune in all the action with your scanner

Summary of this article: This article for our paid subscribers discusses the increased retail radio traffic during the holiday shopping season. It offers tips for scanner enthusiasts to monitor this activity, including recommended frequency ranges and the types of communications they might encounter. The author also shares personal anecdotes about their own experiences listening to retail radio traffic. Additionally, the article mentions some popular frequencies used by specific retailers such as Walmart, Gap and Old Navy.

We have one of the shortest holiday shopping seasons this year because of the way Thanksgiving falls almost at the very end of November and with Christmas occurring midweek. That means everyone will be scrambling over the next few weeks shopping for gifts.

The massive rotunda of the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota, is decorated for holiday shoppers. Take your scanner while shopping and tune in retail action during its busiest time of the year. Listening tip: Sit in the main food court area and you should hear almost all activity on frequencies at the Mall of America. | Photo courtesy of Tony Webster | Wikimedia Commons

That means all the retail workers in stores from clerks to security to store room crews will be on the air and busy. Almost all larger stores use two-way radios that you can monitor without much difficulty. Let the family shop while you scan, tuning in all the retail action in stores and malls. Read below about how to tune in all this action from price checks to detained shoplifters.

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