An Epidemic of Retail Violence

                     Flash mob smash-and-grab

An Epidemic of Retail Violence

A friend of mine in a reasonably affluent California neighborhood described a recent experience where a shoplifter with no inhibitions filled his backpack with cheap wine available at a local drugstore. The thief exited with nary a peep from the security guard or checkout cashier. When my friend inquired, he was informed that the store’s management has instructed its personnel not to confront shoplifters making off with less than $1,000 in purloined goods and not to bother to call the understaffed local police department that really did not care about “small, non-violent crimes.” But increasingly, there is a violent component.

Stepping over the rightwing threats against Target stores for continuing to offer rainbow “pride” items of clothing for all ages – which the management understood to put its workers at risk of violent attacks – the retailer has been forced to announce a massive increase in both minor and major thefts that are so large as to require special mention in corporate filings and presentations. According to the May 17th Yahoo!Finance (Brian Sozzi), such losses “would clip profits by a whopping $500 million this year. Factoring in an about $700 million profit hit from inventory shrinkage in 2022, Target is on pace to see $1.2 billion in profits go up in smoke, due primarily to organized retail crime.”

With too many red states allowing “open” carry of everything from pistols to AR-15s, and many with permitless “concealed carry,” you have to ask yourself if bottom-of-the-economic ladder retail clerks in such jurisdictions are being placed in harm’s way at the highest level in modern American history. With there being little likelihood in the foreseeable future for any GOP-controlled state (i.e., with lax gun laws) addressing the leading cause of child fatalities (the proliferation of guns inflicting fatal bullet wounds), are we all resigned to taking risks anytime we leave our homes? Do we have to keep writing increasing checks for insurance costs, higher taxes and home security?

Target is just one case in point; the infection of retail crime is exploding. “Target Chairman and CEO Brian Cornell says the problem is getting worse, is nationwide, and across various merchandise departments… ‘The unfortunate fact is violent incidents are increasing at our stores and across the entire retail industry. And when products are stolen, simply put they are no longer available for guests who depend on them,’ Cornell said on a call with reporters.

“‘Left unchecked, organized retail crime degrades the communities we call home. As we work to address this problem, the safety of our guests and our team members will always be our primary concern. Beyond safety concerns, worsening shrink rates are putting significant pressure on our financial results,’ he said… The problem of organized retail crime has only grown worse in recent years, as thieves look to secure goods and sell them cheaper to consumers in an age of elevated inflation.

“Goods stolen from stores, which contributes to inventory shrinkage, led to $94.5 billion in losses in 2021, up from $90.8 billion in 2020, according to a late-2022 study by the National Retail Federation (NRF)… About 32.8% of companies surveyed called out organized retail crime as becoming ‘much more’ of a concern in the last five years… In a report released last month, an NRF analysis of 132 crime groups that conducted booster operations between 2014 and 2022 found that 16% used at least one violent tactic in stores. Those tactics include smash and grab, use of firearms or other weapons, battery, flash mob tactics, or threats of violence against store employees.

“‘Organized retail crime has been a major concern for the retail industry for decades, endangering store employees and customers, disrupting store operations and inflicting billions in financial loss for retailers and the communities they serve,’ said NRF CEO Matthew Shay. ‘These concerns have grown in recent years, as criminal groups have become more brazen and violent in their tactics and are using new channels to resell stolen goods.’

“The contentious situation has caused big retailers to vacate certain high-crime cities such as San Francisco in 2023…Nordstrom (JWN) recently followed Whole Foods in exiting a key location in San Francisco, citing concerns over worker safety… Independent news site The San Francisco Standard has tracked 20 closures of household-name stores in the city since 2010, including Office Depot.” Yahoo!Finance

Closing stores is one option. Creating retail armed fortresses is not exactly going to bring in customers. Even as major nations around the world are issuing travel “violence danger” alerts to their citizens contemplating travel to the United States, a huge revenue stream in so many states, violence is increasingly condoned, and guns are more easily available here. Uniformed and armed militia, particularly on the right, join with major candidates pledging pardons for those clearly involved in political violence, even where police officers are injured or killed, to make it very clear: violence is acceptable in so many new circumstances where it was once forbidden.

I’m Peter Dekom, and with a majority of Americans wanting to layer in reasonable gun controls everywhere, it becomes clear that the reason this does not happen is perhaps because we are no longer a true democracy.