>it is why no one will stop you if you walk out of a big-box store without paying for example.

Meanwhile I've seen bouncers beat the shit out of people and literally throw them out of bars. IDK what the legal protections are if any for bartenders operating as their own bouncer, but actual bouncers seem to have a fair amount of confidence in working rowdy patrons over that's lead me to assume they have some amount of legal protection normal staff dont have.