I would think that a letter from her detailing what she knows happened would be worth more than a letter from you who could possibly be a 3rd party to the crime. You might write a letter for her & have her use it to as her letter to Walmart. IF they’re doing it there like they do here, she is ONLY banned from that particular store & NOT Walmart itself. I live in a tiny town & we have 2 Walmarts; so, I’d still have the option to drive a little further & still shop at Walmart. You might also suggest that she call the manager of the offended store & ask for a meeting to ask for a release from being banned. Maybe speaking with her in person would be better than a letter from a stranger. Of course, they will watch her closer for a while until they can ascertain that she’s NOT a professional shoplifter!!!
You said she spends about $300/yr at the store & she spent $50 that day. Assuming that the $50 is her average aoiunt spent, she only goes there about 6 tines a year or once every 2 months. IF she waits about 2 months to go back, I’d suggest that she pay with cash as credit or debit cards are linked with a name but cash isn’t. There’s a good chance that nobody would remember her & as long as she just shops, pays, & leaves, nobody will be any wiser.
I work with a guy whose nephew was caught shoplifting at one of our stores & was banned. He stayed away for a couple of months & then went back to hopping there 2 or 3 times a week. Nobody noticed for over 3 months; but when they did, they just extended the ban from that store for a year longer than originally set up. He could have gone to the store across town, but it was a challenge to him to shop at that particular store. IF your friend only shops there once every 2 months, it is highly unlikely that anybody will care enough to notice her as long as she’s NOT taking anything to draw their attention. So, IF everybody leaves it alone, she can probably go back to being a regular shopper without anyone caring. The worse that should happen IF they do notice her is that they’ll extend the length of time before she can go back in legally. I saw some statistics the other day that said that 85% of the US population lives within 15 minutes of a Walmart. Is there any chance that she has another Walmart store from which she hasn’t been banned???