Sadly, in the last year we've seen twice as many offences," Sharon White, chair of the John Lewis Partnership that owns department stores and Waitrose supermarkets, told BBC Radio.
Weston said some of the theft was "quite organised" and Primark was also seeing higher levels of anti-social behaviour.
His comments echo those of Tesco (TSCO.L) CEO Ken Murphy, who earlier this month said Britain's biggest supermarket chain was offering body-cams to staff who need them.
Murphy also called for a change in the law to make abuse and violence towards retail workers a specific offence in Britain.
Target (TGT.N), Foot Locker (FL.N) and Dick's Sporting Goods (DKS.N) have all warned that profits have been under pressure from loss of inventory due to theft at their stores.
Persons:
John Lewis, It's, we've, Sharon White, White, shoplifters, George Weston, Weston, Primark, Ken Murphy, Murphy, James Davey, Mark Potter
Organizations:
Police, Foods, John Lewis Partnership, Waitrose, BBC Radio, British Foods, Crown Prosecution Service, Reuters, Tesco, Dick's Sporting, Thomson
Locations:
Britain, United States