This isn't theft of need. A more insidious type of crime is pushing some stores to close
This isn't theft of need. A more insidious type of crime is pushing some stores to close
Target’s decision to close nine of its stores in major cities, citing persistent large-scale theft at those locations, is the latest signal that retailers may be struggling in their battle to contain a growing and dangerous problem.
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I actually assumed the Target in downtown Seattle was one of the ones closing. I was unaware there even was one in the U-District. I could easily see a lot of theft there.
I'm a little surprised about the one in Ballard. While that spot is not exactly the epitome of high class, it is far from dangerous and does not have a large amount of homeless anymore. This kind of makes me think that revenue is shit and they are just using theft and safety as an excuse. If it was really about that, the one downtown would be closing instead.
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I just happened to be in that Ballard target for the first time last week to get my Covid booster and it was weird. Besides the pharmacy, there were basically no employees. No cashiers, one person who ushered you over to the self-checkout, and two greeters (aka loss prevention). It's just anecdotal observation, but there was no visible sign of, you know, crime problem, i.e. nobody camped out on the sidewalk. But there were also zero customers. That store is tiny for a Target and seemed to have basically the same amount of inventory as a Bartells. For example, we bought a laundry basket while we were there and they just had one style and color (ugly as fuck!). And there is a CVS and a Walgreens basically a block away. And the Target has paid parking. So, I feel pretty confident that this Target was a loser due to bad business decisions.
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When the people see the rich getting away with crimes against humanity, the little crimes seem way less important.
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ORC wrangling is sort of fun. They think they get away with it but then get involved in a police blitz and go to jail for quite a while. What happens is They police and store asset protection / loss prevention allow them to steal products until they hit the federal $ limit to be a federal crime. A blitz occurs and they get funneled to police waiting outside to arrest them. I’ve probably seen 5 ORC rings busted using this method.
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Retail theft isn't really increasing or that high. This is the excuse companies give to close stores in underserved (poor) areas do they can focus on opening stores where they can make more money.
They get videos of a flashy theft and then blast them across the Internet & TV.
It's especially telling since in the OP article they even say they're not going to give data to actually back up their claims.
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From your source:
It’s not necessarily the amount of theft taking place that most concerns the industry, but rather the increased violence associated with it.
Sixty-seven percent of respondents reported more violence associated with organized retail crime than a year ago. In the last survey, 81% reported an increase in violence.
Meanwhile, 45% of retailers in the survey said they have reduced specific store hours to deal with crime and violence, nearly 30% said they somehow changed store product selection, and 28% reported closing a specific location because of crime.
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