Lake City native's job leads him to help juveniles

LAKE CITY — Gilleon Frieson said he once apprehended a 9-year-old stealing from a local store where he was an employee in loss prevention.

“Something has to be wrong,” Frieson said of the child’s behavior.

Frieson said he started attending juvenile hearings and that April Watson, director of the 12th Circuit Solicitor’s juvenile arbitration program, saw his concern and asked him to become an arbitrator.

His experience with loss prevention has led him to become an arbitrator with Florence County Juvenile Justice.

Frieson, a Lake City native, today is executive team leader in charge of hardlines at Target in Florence. In this position, Frieson said, he is responsible for various areas in the store, including grocery, furniture, electronics, toys, stationery and sporting goods.

He started out as the executive team leader for asset protection and then moved to his present position.

In his previous position, Frieson was in charge of minimizing risk and losses through theft in the store.

“I loved that position,” he said.

He said he also has worked in loss prevention at Best Buy and Belk in Florence, which totals nine years of experience in loss prevention. During those nine years, he said, he established many relationships with area law enforcement officers.

Frieson said that when he came to Target, the shortage numbers were high but decreased every year after he joined loss prevention, which ultimately allowed Target to reduce its security hours.

“I basically worked myself out of a job,” he said jokingly.

On a typical day at his current job, Frieson delegates responsibilities to five other team leaders, he said. Primarily, his main responsibility to insure that every customer has a great shopping experience, which in return will increase store profits, he said.

Frieson said his current position has broadened his perception of how stores operate and will benefit him greatly if he returns to a position in loss prevention.

When he is not managing day-to-day operations at Target, Frieson enjoys playing with his dog Glory, playing golf, playing drums and spending quality time with his family, he said.

He is married to Catrice Alexander, a native of Florence who is the assistant manager of Belk in Lake City. Frieson has one daughter, Jayla.

Frieson graduated from Lake City High School in 1995. In 2001, Frieson graduated from Florence-Darlington Technical College with an associate’s in paralegal studies and in 2008 earned a bachelor’s in business administration from Coker College.

Currently, Frieson is currently pursuing an MBA with a specialization in health care management from Capella University. He also spent eight years in the Army National Guard.

Frieson is a member of the Florence Graduate Chapter of Omega Ps Phi Fraternity Inc., which participates in such activities as mentoring students at North Vista Elementary School in Florence School District 1, conducting blood drives and adopting families at Christmas.