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Have You Observed Widespread / Out Of Control Shoplifting In Your Local Area? (17/30) (1 Viewer)

GordonGekko

Footballguy
Direct Headline: We visited stores like Walmart and Home Depot to see how they are tackling the industry's $95 billion shoplifting problem. We found an alarming amount of locked up items with security cameras watching every aisle.

Ben Tobin, Dominick Reuter Jan 26, 2023

....We found an alarming amount of locked up items with security cameras watching every aisle. We visited four retailers' stores to see what anti-theft measures they are putting into place. The stores had an abundance of spider wraps, items under lock-and-key, and security cameras...retail theft has become a $94.5 billion problem....more than $200,000 in stolen retail goods seized by the SF Police Department from a man who was reselling them online.....Walmart has installed cameras on medication and beauty aisles....Walmart is trying to deter theft by installing cameras in its parking lot......Like other retailers, Walmart locked many items, like beauty and electronics, behind glass doors, requiring customers to get an employee to retrieve products for them....

....A video game display at Target used a tether to let shoppers look at a title, but required staff assistance to get a copy from a locker ....Plan B emergency contraceptive pills were placed in security boxes....Elsewhere in Target's beauty section, the only items with security RF tags were fake eyelashes and press-on nails....Target protects its shopping carts with a cart retrieval system made by Gatekeeper Systems....An estimated 2 million shopping carts are stolen each year, costing retailers an estimated $800 million.

...At a Home Depot in Madison, Wisconsin, one of several security cameras monitoring the front entrance showed shoppers that they were on camera....Household electrical fuses were hung on twist-release displays, which make it harder to pull several off the rack at once....Higher-priced power tools were locked in merchandise cages at Home Depot....A padlock on a merchandise cage reminded store workers at Home Depot to personally bring items to the checkout....Some battery packs that were locked in cages were also tagged with RF devices at Home Depot....


https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/visited-stores-walmart-home-depot-100000737.html



Direct Headline: Shoplifting is surging across America with dangerous and costly consequences

By Parija Kavilanz, CNN Business Jan 7, 2022

....Retailers have always been vulnerable to shoplifting. But the emergence of coordinated and organized robberies at high-value stores, even during shopping hours, has the industry on edge....In November, a group of 14 individuals barged into a Louis Vuitton store in Oakbrook, Illinois, while customers were inside and audaciously drove away with a $100,000 worth of merchandise. The entire incident was caught on the store’s surveillance video....That same month, a group of at least 18 people broke into a closed Nordstrom store at LA’s famous high-end The Grove shopping mall using a sledgehammer and an electric bicycle. They made off with several thousand dollars in merchandise. And on Black Friday, one of the busiest shopping days of the year, as many as 30 people robbed a Best Buy in Minneapolis.....

....The crime typically involves groups of people targeting stores that carry higher-value items like electronics, designer handbags and designer clothing,
who resell the merchandise in secondary marketplaces, such as eBay, OfferUp and Facebook Marketplace or even back into the legitimate supply chain....“These are people who make a living stealing and reselling. This is not a one-time opportunistic or need-based robbery....For every $330 worth of products stolen, a retailer has to sell an incremental $300,000 worth of goods to break even....We’ve talked to retailers across America who say shoplifting is now 2% to 3% of their total sales. That’s up from 0.7 to 1% pre-pandemic....”

....Power tools are so popular with professional shoplifters at Home Depot (HD) that the home improvement retailer last year launched a line of power tools that won’t work until they’re first scanned and activated at the checkout register,....Some of most popular items targeted by professional gangs of shoplifters are designer clothing, laundry detergent, designer handbags, allergy medicine, razors, high-end liquor, pain relievers, baby formula, laptops, deodorant and high-end appliances....“Think about retailers that are staffed predominantly by women, like cosmetics stores and high-end fashion....Criminals target these stores because these are high-dollar items and they anticipate little pushback from the staff. But the fear makes it difficult to keep employees....”

....Elsewhere, drugstore chains have closed stores in neighborhoods where there’s persistent shoplifting. Walgreens, for example, has closed a handful of stores in San Francisco, citing rampant shoplifting....Then there’s the broader community impact. Shopping in stores generates sales tax, which in turn provides funding for essential public services....Some 50% of retailers surveyed reported an average dollar value loss of merchandise of at least $1,000 in 2020 compared to 29% in 2019. Overall, organized retail crime costs retailers an average of $700,000 per $1 billion in sales....


https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/07/business/retail-theft-shoplifting-robbery/index.html



Direct Headline: Drug Store Managers In NYC Say Shoplifting Skyrocketing, Which Is Why More Items Are Under Lock And Key

CBS NEW YORK Oct 11, 2021

...It has become a common site at drug stores around New York City -- aisles and aisles of products under lock and key...."Shampoos, deodorants ... What I'm also seeing is that a lot of stuff is not even on the shelves....They have it locked up because sometimes they get boosters that come in there and steal their stuff...."... Boosters are people who steal products to re-sell them.

....Drugstores in parts of New York City are on high alert amid a rise in shoplifting and are increasing security measures to stop theft. Cans of Spam, a cooked pork product that retails for $3.99 per 12-ounce tin, appeared to be encased in an antitheft container at a Duane Reade store in Manhattan....


IMAGE of can of Spam in protective "anti-theft" plastic case

Cans of Celebrity brand ham, which retails for $3.49, were also encased in plastic, according to a customer tweeted an image of the product.

IMAGE of can of Celebrity canned ham in protective "anti-theft" plastic case


https://www.cbsnews.com/newyork/new...ts-locked-up-nypd-national-retail-federation/


https://www.cbsnews.com/news/store-slocking-up-spam-duane-reade-shoplifting-theft/



********


“Crime isn’t that complicated. People steal because taking something gives them something. If they’re not in it for the money, they’re in it for control. The act of taking, of breaking the rules, makes them feel powerful. They’re in it for the sheer defiance. Some people steal to stay alive, and some steal to feel alive. Simple as that.”

- V.E. Schwab



Here is another topic that is designed to increase discussion and participation in the FFA.

I see this as an interesting topic because this issue impacts everyone here and everyone across the modern world. Widespread theft creates a possible immediate safety threat for you and/or your family members if you are inside a retail location. And the costs of that increased theft are passed onto you as they raise the cost of essential goods and services. This will impact people putting food on the table for their kids or not. I believe there can be interesting discussion here without delving into public policy issues, public administration considerations and generally anything politically related to this topic. However this would classify, IMHO, as one of the more difficult issues to tackle only from the community/cultural/social perspective.

In recent times, have you seen shoplifting firsthand go up dramatically? Have you talked to local businesses and have they shared with you their concerns or their day to day reality with increased theft and shoplifting? Have you seen a dramatic impact, on this issue, based on talking with other people you know, your family, your workplace, your neighbors, your general social network, your overall community? And, for those who want to share, it might be helpful to share your general geographic location or what specific stores you see are being hit. What do you think should be done to deal with this widespread shoplifting problem? Do you believe it's a big enough problem to warrant a more heavily invested response or do you see it as simply more sound and fury to scare people? Will increased shoplifting / theft change any of your formerly routine shopping habits? Have you ever shoplifted before? What happened? Do you know anyone who has been caught for shoplifting before? What happened? What did you take? What did you learn or wish you learned from the experience?

I'll leave this here for others to discuss. (17/30)
 
No issues with shoplifting here, but I basically live in Mayberry. I honestly think a few local shopkeepers might allow me to walk out with merchandise as long as I promise to come back tomorrow to pay for it. Not really joking.

My daughter and her "friend" got pinched for shoplifting in a nearby town a few years ago. I think they were sophomores in high school at the time. When she called from the police station around 8:00 pm or so to explain what had happened, I told her that I would be down to pick her up in the morning. That did not sit well with Mrs. K, who dropped everything to go bail her out, but it sure made an impression on my daughter. She and her friend soon had a falling out. Her friend proceeded to kill two people and severely injure herself in a DUI a couple of years later and is currently in prison, while my daughter is a junior in college and doing just fine. (In the end, the shoplifting didn't amount to anything -- she went through some diversion program for kids who make stupid decisions and that was that.) I'm chalking all of this up as a bit of a close call but definitely a win.
 
CA won't do anything unless the person is caught with more than $950 in goods. Asinine policy.
 
For every $330 worth of products stolen, a retailer has to sell an incremental $300,000 worth of goods to break even

I would love to see the math behind this claim.
Yeah, wondered about that, too. I figured there's either some business-y definition of some of those words that I'm not familiar with, or there's a misplaced decimal or something.

Especially with the next line about shoplifting being 2 to 3% of sales. Wouldn't that mean they're losing a bunch of money overall if the first part is true?
 
.For every $330 worth of products stolen, a retailer has to sell an incremental $300,000 worth of goods to break even.
How does this work? Their profit margin is .11%?

I live in downtown SF and shoplifting is common here. Goods stolen from supermarkets are sold openly on the street. I rarely go into convenience stores but when I recently stopped at a CVS, I saw a fellow who was dressed like a shoplifter in the candy aisle. Giving him the benefit of doubt, I figured he was going to pay with EBT. Nope, he headed right for the exit. A young security guard stood aside but an older lady cashier ran over and took up the fight. She grabbed at the candy bars and called the thief a loser. He flexed at her and then casually walked outside.
 
For every $330 worth of products stolen, a retailer has to sell an incremental $300,000 worth of goods to break even

I would love to see the math behind this claim.
I would think an extra $3300. I would like to see how they are figuring this also. The margins are usually 22-35%. A few things fall outside this range, like promo items (10-20%).

I haven’t seen the widespread shoplifting, but have heard stories about Walmarts and Meijer getting hit good in the poorer areas.
 
Sephora and ulta are getting just murdered. Little things people Palm and leave. Face recognition is going to have to come into play
 
interesting. In my previous life, I engineered some of the security items described above - spider wraps, RF tags, anti-sweep peg hooks, etc. Basically, the things you have to take off at the register. Specifically, I worked on specialized solutions for infant formula, liquor bottles, women's shoes, razor blades, shampoo bottles, designer kitchen and bathroom faucets, power tools, video games, raw steak, you name it.

That was a long time ago. I worked in that field between 2008-2016, so none of this is new. Since I left the industry in 2016, I can't tell you if ORT (organized retail theft) is up or not, or if this is just being reported and amplified by those with a political agenda.
 
My wife works in retail. For their safety, they (employees) are instructed not to try to stop shoplifters. Unfortunately shoplifters know that now and are brazen about it. Someone walled out with an end table a couple weeks ago.
 
My wife works in retail. For their safety, they (employees) are instructed not to try to stop shoplifters. Unfortunately shoplifters know that now and are brazen about it. Someone walled out with an end table a couple weeks ago.
Homeless in NYC at the 24 hour drugstores are a problem.
 
For their safety, they (employees) are instructed not to try to stop shoplifters.
I worked at a pizza shop when I was a teenager. There was a gas station attached to the pizza shop. The owner of the gas station used to tell a story about how one time a thief decided to drive off without paying for their gas (no requirement to pre-pay back then). The owner ran out and was able to throw a hammer through their back window as they were driving off. The gas thief didn't even stop, just drove off with a busted out back window. Gas station owner said he was a little mad about losing the hammer, but considered the window a fair trade for the gas.

Now that I think about that story, it was probably BS. The likelihood of getting out there in time to throw a hammer through their window is low. But I still like to imagine it happened. It made a great story when he told it.
 
interesting. In my previous life, I engineered some of the security items described above - spider wraps, RF tags, anti-sweep peg hooks, etc. Basically, the things you have to take off at the register. Specifically, I worked on specialized solutions for infant formula, liquor bottles, women's shoes, razor blades, shampoo bottles, designer kitchen and bathroom faucets, power tools, video games, raw steak, you name it.

That was a long time ago. I worked in that field between 2008-2016, so none of this is new. Since I left the industry in 2016, I can't tell you if ORT (organized retail theft) is up or not, or if this is just being reported and amplified by those with a political agenda.
Just please don't tell us that you're the person responsible for clamshell packaging.

It would be one thing if you were transporting a biohazardous package in Wuhan China back in 2019 and accidentally misplaced it at the local wet market. I mean, we all make mistakes. That's why pencils have erasers! But clamshell packaging is crime against humanity.
 
Anecdotally, as somebody who has represented multiple hundreds of people charged with shoplifting, I have not seen a discernible uptick in shoplifting. I have also not received any notices of any seminars discussing such phenomenon. Further and generally speaking, crimes charged reduced significantly during the pandemic. So, while I can't say for certain that the premise in the OP is accurate or inaccurate and while I am fully willing to concede that my subset area is an outlier, I haven't anecdotally seen anything.

I do, however, strongly disagree with sentiment of the quote from V. E. Schwab (I believe she is a fantasy fiction writer). While she identifies two minority buckets of thieves - the people who truly steal out of "need" and the people who steal out of excitement (kleptomaniacs) - the quote leaves out the overwhelming demographic of shoplifters: drug addicts. In my experience, the overwhelming majority of people arrested for and charged with shoplifting are either stealing because they spent their money on drugs or, more commonly, stealing items to later sell to have money to buy drugs. Think Bubbles from The Wire.

Finally, out of respect to the OP to answer his questions, I believe the only time I ever took anything from a store was when I was in like 7th grade and it was "cool" to have as many of the little drawstring clasps on our Starter jackets. If unclear, I didn't take the actual jacket, just the small little clips from a coat on the rack that had essentially little value. I did it once, I was scared the entire time, and I was so ashamed afterwards that I didn't put the couple clasps or whatever I took on my jacket as I didn't want the visual reminder.
 
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interesting. In my previous life, I engineered some of the security items described above - spider wraps, RF tags, anti-sweep peg hooks, etc. Basically, the things you have to take off at the register. Specifically, I worked on specialized solutions for infant formula, liquor bottles, women's shoes, razor blades, shampoo bottles, designer kitchen and bathroom faucets, power tools, video games, raw steak, you name it.

That was a long time ago. I worked in that field between 2008-2016, so none of this is new. Since I left the industry in 2016, I can't tell you if ORT (organized retail theft) is up or not, or if this is just being reported and amplified by those with a political agenda.
Just please don't tell us that you're the person responsible for clamshell packaging.

It would be one thing if you were transporting a biohazardous package in Wuhan China back in 2019 and accidentally misplaced it at the local wet market. I mean, we all make mistakes. That's why pencils have erasers! But clamshell packaging is crime against humanity.
Oh hell no. Although we did explore it - we looked into ways stores could apply their own heat-sealed clamshells for products that didn't come from the manufacturer that way.
 
For every $330 worth of products stolen, a retailer has to sell an incremental $300,000 worth of goods to break even

I would love to see the math behind this claim.
yeah, I'm going to call ********. I know for a fact that places like Home Depot and Lowes charge shrink to the manufacturers. That is, if $30k of DeWalt merchandise is stolen, DeWalt gets charged for that directly. Now, there may be some threshold amount of security the retailer expects but ultimately it's on DeWalt to make sure the product is securely packaged. That's why you get the clamshells that @IvanKaramazov mentioned above, and that's why RF (or AM) tags are built into products themselves.
 
interesting. In my previous life, I engineered some of the security items described above - spider wraps, RF tags, anti-sweep peg hooks, etc. Basically, the things you have to take off at the register. Specifically, I worked on specialized solutions for infant formula, liquor bottles, women's shoes, razor blades, shampoo bottles, designer kitchen and bathroom faucets, power tools, video games, raw steak, you name it.
A few years ago I saw a store that did a great job of spider wrapping and magnetic pegging of their more expensive hunting knives. A thief brought his own knife to the store and just cut the knives loose through the surrounding plastic, leaving the packaging behind.
 
interesting. In my previous life, I engineered some of the security items described above - spider wraps, RF tags, anti-sweep peg hooks, etc. Basically, the things you have to take off at the register. Specifically, I worked on specialized solutions for infant formula, liquor bottles, women's shoes, razor blades, shampoo bottles, designer kitchen and bathroom faucets, power tools, video games, raw steak, you name it.
A few years ago I saw a store that did a great job of spider wrapping and magnetic pegging of their more expensive hunting knives. A thief brought his own knife to the store and just cut the knives loose through the surrounding plastic, leaving the packaging behind.
yeah. It was always a little bit frustrating designing that stuff because at the end of the day, nothing is foolproof. I've seen dozens of ways our products have been defeated. In reality, everything we did was just a deterrent - something to drive the theives to a different store. Also, it was enough of a deterrent to keep honest people honest - stop the kleptos.

It's funny - CVS I think it was, did an experiment where they labeled some product with a bright purple sticker that said "Caution - Anti-theft device" or something like that, and that was shown to be just as effective as our expensive tags. It made thieves move on to something else, and sometimes that's enough.
 
For every $330 worth of products stolen, a retailer has to sell an incremental $300,000 worth of goods to break even

I would love to see the math behind this claim.
yeah, I'm going to call ********. I know for a fact that places like Home Depot and Lowes charge shrink to the manufacturers. That is, if $30k of DeWalt merchandise is stolen, DeWalt gets charged for that directly. Now, there may be some threshold amount of security the retailer expects but ultimately it's on DeWalt to make sure the product is securely packaged. That's why you get the clamshells that @IvanKaramazov mentioned above, and that's why RF (or AM) tags are built into products themselves.
To me, that is BS. We pulled out of a chain as they wanted us to take the hit for their lax security. The chain is bankrupt now.
 
Shoplifting in Memphis is totally out of control. Often it's flash mobs... 20-30-50 kids run in, grab everything they can, and run out. In this city kids are essentially just released and adults.... well, somehow our DA has decided bail is racist so they just get cut loose too. The result is exactly what you'd expect.

Of course now some stores are pulling out of neighborhoods where this is the worst (predominantly black), resulting in "food deserts" where there are few quality food retailers.... then the media/residents attack the retailers who closed stores that were bleeding money for closing those stores, calling them racist.

It's ridiculous.
 
My wife has an uncle who works for Walmart in Loss Prevention. His group are the "undercover shoppers" that blend into the store and keep an eye out for shoplifting. But they aren't police, and the police aren't stationed at the store, so the best anyone at Walmart can do is to spot it early enough (and hope the offender doesn't split), call the police, then point them out to the cops but it has to be in the parking lot. He's told me countless stories - two guys that walk in, grab a buggy, load a giant TV on top of it, push it to the front towards the registers, then just lift it off the buggy and walk out the door, lay it in a truck bed and drive away. If they can't call the cops fast enough, can't do anything to them. Bold cashiers or door attendants who try to intervene in a shoplifting/robbery get fired by Walmart for breaking policy.
 
.For every $330 worth of products stolen, a retailer has to sell an incremental $300,000 worth of goods to break even.
How does this work? Their profit margin is .11%?

I live in downtown SF and shoplifting is common here. Goods stolen from supermarkets are sold openly on the street. I rarely go into convenience stores but when I recently stopped at a CVS, I saw a fellow who was dressed like a shoplifter in the candy aisle. Giving him the benefit of doubt, I figured he was going to pay with EBT. Nope, he headed right for the exit. A young security guard stood aside but an older lady cashier ran over and took up the fight. She grabbed at the candy bars and called the thief a loser. He flexed at her and then casually walked outside.
I know in the grocery business the profit margin is razor thin after all costs such as labor is factored in. Less than 5%. So it doesn't take much shrink to cause problems for your bottom line. Weather it's from associate theft,shoplifting or inventory management. I know I got real anxious every time the new P and L report came out. We had goals we had to meet.
 
When I was with Publix the store I spent most of my career in had a big theft problem it was probably close to $500 a day. It really wasn't the biggest cause of shrink though. Publix had very high standards for the product offered to customers. I know we sometimes gave over $500 a day to food banks because the quality wasn't good enough to sell or product was going out of date. I know deli and bakery also would toss at least that amount. Deli depth fried chicken could only set out for 1.5 hours before it was pulled. Inventory management was one of the most important parts of controlling shrink.
 
.For every $330 worth of products stolen, a retailer has to sell an incremental $300,000 worth of goods to break even.
How does this work? Their profit margin is .11%?

I live in downtown SF and shoplifting is common here. Goods stolen from supermarkets are sold openly on the street. I rarely go into convenience stores but when I recently stopped at a CVS, I saw a fellow who was dressed like a shoplifter in the candy aisle. Giving him the benefit of doubt, I figured he was going to pay with EBT. Nope, he headed right for the exit. A young security guard stood aside but an older lady cashier ran over and took up the fight. She grabbed at the candy bars and called the thief a loser. He flexed at her and then casually walked outside.


Email:

parija.bhatnagar[AT]warnermedia[DOT]com

Twitter:

https://twitter.com/ParijaKavilanz






"The cost of merchandise that a “low-level” shoplifter steals during any single theft event may not seem to amount to much. In a survey of 15,000 non-professional offenders caught shoplifting, roughly one-third stole goods costing less than $25, and most stole merchandise worth between $25 and $100....Research shows that, on average, a “low-level” shoplifter caught stealing today has already stolen $1,800 worth of merchandise before being caught because of the frequency of their theft and the infrequency of their apprehensions..... National Association of Shoplifting Prevention (NASP), which conducted the survey of 7,702 adults and 7,475 juveniles....The above data point derives from another eye-opening finding from the NASP survey. It found that 46 percent of adults caught shoplifting admitted to being a repeat offender, yet only 14 percent had ever been arrested before the current incident. It’s the same for juveniles. Caught shoplifting, 40 percent admitted that they’ve done it repeatedly, but only 6 percent had ever been arrested before. Therefore, the actual cost to retailers of the innumerable incidents that go undetected, unreported, and unpunished is staggering...."





"Shoplifting losses vary by store type but can account for about one-third of the total inventory shrinkage. It is estimated that shoplifting occurs 330 – 440 million times per year at a loss of $10-$13 billion dollars. Nationwide, that equates to 1.0-1.2 million shoplift incidents every day at a loss rate of $19,000-$25,300 dollars stolen per minute. When you factor in employee and vendor theft, this sum skyrockets to an estimate of over $33 billion dollars stolen per year."




"Lost Profits - When a store visitor shoplifts a retail item, the store must recover the entire cost of the item, rather than the store's profit margin on the lost inventory. The amount the store must recover depends on the store's profit margin and the cost of the shoplifted item. For example, grocery stores commonly operate on a 1-percent profit margin. This means that a grocery must recover $100 for every $1 worth of shoplifted inventory, according to Rutgers University. The high cost-per-dollar is typically distributed across the pricing for the store's remaining inventory."


**********


It's a good question you have. I included the Twitter account and email of the article's author, if you wanted to reach out and ask. If you do, let us all know what you find out.

It could be a typo, or it could be calculating the complete financial hit of a corporations entire loss prevention unit plus all of their associated security and legal costs.
 
Direct Headline: Walmart closing an Everett store that locals say was plagued by theft

By Paul Roberts March 24, 2023

.....Walmart is closing an underperforming store in Everett that some neighboring businesses say has been plagued by theft.....“We’ve seen people come out with TVs, big boxes of who knows what, a vacuum one time....”.....But several businesses near the closing store said shoplifting has become a serious problem, including at Walmart......“From what I’ve heard from Walmart staff, to me, that’s the cause of the closure.....You know, when you go over [to Walmart] and the socks are under lock and key, it’s very evident theft is a problem."

A Walmart spokesperson didn’t comment on reports of shoplifting.....But top company officials have also acknowledged that shoplifting is a rising problem for Walmart nationally and could lead to closures if left unchecked.....



https://www.seattletimes.com/busine...t-store-that-locals-say-was-plagued-by-theft/



Direct Headline: Shoplifting is soaring in Los Angeles

By Carter Hyde March 27, 2023

.....On Dec. 1 and 2, a crew of shoplifters hit a quartet of shoe and clothing stores in Los Angeles and the nearby city of Paramount....$18,000 worth of merchandise was stolen..... In January, there were 805 shoplifting reports in the city of Los Angeles, according to publicly available Los Angeles Police Department data. That was the highest monthly total since at least 2010. ....Shoplifting reports, which were fairly low during the first half of 2022, have been soaring since August. The previous monthly high was the 650 reports in August 2016. That count has been exceeded in four of the last five months.....

.....Although not defined as a violent crime, shoplifting can become dangerous for store owners, employees and customers. Choothesa recalled two troubling incidents in her business with people who ended up in jail. .....“One of them tried to attack me with a shovel......” .....Some higher-value shoplifting incidents are carried out by organized crime rings, which resell stolen merchandise. This is a widespread problem in the state. In February, the California Highway Patrol’s Organized Retail Crime Task Forces busted a ring that stole more than $1 million worth of Apple products from stores throughout California.....

.....LAPD data only reflects crimes that are reported to the department, not how many crimes actually occurred .....



https://xtown.la/2023/03/27/shoplifting-is-soaring-in-los-angeles-in-2023/



********


What happens to the elderly who are on fixed incomes and don't have cars or easy means of transportation? When the pharmacies in those big boxes close, how much more difficult is it for them to get their needed medicine?

What happens to the every day working class people who lose their jobs over these store closures?

Small business owners, en masse, aren't just going to roll over and allow their only means to work and feed their kids be snatched from their hands without taking some kind of action.

What happens when that breaking point is reached?
 
Walmart is a serial wage theft offender and has paid over a billion dollars in fines and settlements. Its never ending for them, just part of their business plan. Now they put in self-checkout machines to further reduce their labor costs but want to cry about retail theft? Maybe pay your workers enough to give a ####.
 
Walmart is a serial wage theft offender and has paid over a billion dollars in fines and settlements. Its never ending for them, just part of their business plan. Now they put in self-checkout machines to further reduce their labor costs but want to cry about retail theft? Maybe pay your workers enough to give a ####.


TWEET / VIDEO: D. Scott XX@XXeclipsethis2003

https://twitter.com/i/status/1641155707436257280

Philadelphia Target is having a huge sale.

12:09 PM Mar 29, 2023


https://twitter.com/eclipsethis2003/status/1641155707436257280







********

Wage theft is a huge issue in America. You are more than welcome to start a new top level thread topic on the matter. Invest in it, source it, commit to it, and then Ping me with the "@" feature, and if you do that, I will heavily invest in that thread with you.

However this thread is not regarding wage theft. It's about shoplifting and, as the video above shows, mass coordinated theft against major retail stores and small businesses.

Every store that has an internal pharmacy that closes, it reduces an access point for elderly people, many on fixed incomes and limited mobility, who lose localized ability to get their needed medications/prescriptions. Also store closures causes the "food desert" problem in many areas. As well as causes many average every day working class people to lose their jobs. I won't disagree with you about the stark economic plight of many working class people out there at the hands of juggernaut "brand names", however that's a topic you can explore further in your own thread.

Let me show you how to use the ping feature.

Now I'm going to ping the @FBG Moderator

@CletiusMaximus , I am going to ask you again, civilly, to discuss the topic at hand or something even remotely close to it. If you would like to start a new thread topic on a different matter elsewhere, I'm sure that will much appreciated by the entire community as well.
 
Walmart is a serial wage theft offender and has paid over a billion dollars in fines and settlements. Its never ending for them, just part of their business plan. Now they put in self-checkout machines to further reduce their labor costs but want to cry about retail theft? Maybe pay your workers enough to give a ####.


However this thread is not regarding wage theft. It's about shoplifting and, as the video above shows, mass coordinated theft against major retail stores and small businesses.

My comment is directly related to this topic. Walmart and other big box stores love promoting fear-mongering headlines to deflect and justify closing stores and raising prices, as though the phenomenon of increased retail theft is completely outside their control. Meanwhile, Walmart has put self-checkout programs in place to cut labor costs knowing full well those changes will lead to increased loss from theft. We also know that Walmart’s business model is based on paying a calculated amount in fines and settlements for wage theft claims – well over a billion dollars paid over the last 20 years. Stealing from their employees and then negotiating fines and settlements is a Walmart profit driver. Wage theft is the single largest form of theft committed in the United States and most commonly affects low-income hourly workers such as Walmart “associates.” Walmart caters to low-income customers who are more likely to commit retail theft because they are poor. The most commonly stolen retail items are baby formula, deodorant, washing detergent, razors and OTC medicines - although those thefts don't make the most interesting tik tok videos or viral headlines. The goal of Walmart’s fearmongering campaign is to push its theft problem on to taxpayers by appealing to local government police and criminal justice solutions. The solution Walmart and other big box retailers demand is to shift their burden to local taxpayer funded resources when these resources could be used to address the root causes of the problem - poverty, lack of mental health support resources and drug addiction.
 
The most commonly stolen retail items are baby formula, deodorant, washing detergent, razors and OTC medicines
This isn't completely because it's families in need. These items can be flipped almost instantly on a secondary market - flea markets, bodegas, etc. Laundry detergent in particular. You can take it to any laundromat and sell it for like $1/shot.

This is organized retail theft. It is a problem. It's not new.
 
I suspect the "theft" committed by stores not ringing up items as they are priced on the shelf outweighs what walks out the door. To be accurate, I generally only see this in grocery stores.
I see this at Walmart, frequently. I usually don't get the item when I notice.
 
I had my $75 in salads Panera to go order stolen off the shelf yesterday. Second time it's happened to me, first at this store. There is a bunch of homeless/panhandle people around there 24/7 so hopefully they grabbed it.

When the worker realized what happened, I heard her whisper to a coworker "I can't believe it happened again."
 
I suspect the "theft" committed by stores not ringing up items as they are priced on the shelf outweighs what walks out the door. To be accurate, I generally only see this in grocery stores.
was at whole foods a couple days and scale was broken so was ringing up produce at a fraction of the weight. for me was only a few bucks, was in a hurry and didn't feel like dealing with it, but who knows how long it was like that.
 
The goal of Walmart’s fearmongering campaign is to push its theft problem on to taxpayers by appealing to local government police and criminal justice solutions.
Theft is a law enforcement problem, though. It seems fine to me to let local governments, police, and the criminal justice system sort this out.

No issues with firms proactively discouraging theft -- that's fine of course. But I'm not sure what firms are supposed to do to defend against organized theft if law enforcement is going to just let it go. I don't want store owners plugging people in the back, which is why we ask people not to take the law into their own hands. So let's let the professionals deal with it.
 
I had my $75 in salads Panera to go order stolen off the shelf yesterday. Second time it's happened to me, first at this store. There is a bunch of homeless/panhandle people around there 24/7 so hopefully they grabbed it.

When the worker realized what happened, I heard her whisper to a coworker "I can't believe it happened again."
I haven’t gone to a Panera recently. Do they still have the system where anyone can just pick up prepaid orders without any checks? I always thought that was asking for trouble.
 
I had my $75 in salads Panera to go order stolen off the shelf yesterday. Second time it's happened to me, first at this store. There is a bunch of homeless/panhandle people around there 24/7 so hopefully they grabbed it.

When the worker realized what happened, I heard her whisper to a coworker "I can't believe it happened again."
I haven’t gone to a Panera recently. Do they still have the system where anyone can just pick up prepaid orders without any checks? I always thought that was asking for trouble.
Exactly where it happened.
 

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