Walgreens closing 5 SF stores due to 'organized retail crime'

Vitroswhyuask · 2021-10-13T00:34:40+00:00

I kind of wonder if those stores will just put up a window. Ask for your order and someone will fetch it for you. I seem to remember thats how old grocery stores were before the advent of the shopping cart

Innit4tech · 2021-10-13T08:39:38+00:00

and here I am paying for things like some kind of sucker.

poopmast · 2021-10-13T13:39:28+00:00

I was at my local walgreens, with my son, and he was looking at the diecast cars by the register. This other mom was like excuse me, and told her child to grab whatever he wanted and get out of here. The kid literally grabbed 8 diecast cars and walked out the door, and the mom had a whole bunch of random things like mouthwash, and toilet paper and walked out the door without paying. I guess they have a no chase policy.

reallygoodbee · 2021-10-13T02:30:22+00:00

To be very clear, these are not single moms stealing bread to feed their families.

These are VERY organized groups that rob stores in bulk, and then sell the no-cost goods at slightly discounted prices online (including on Amazon).

captain_oats19 · 2021-10-12T23:19:53+00:00

I was just there for work, went to a Walgreens at around 11pm to grab some snacks. 3 children walked in (probably 10-12 years old), cussed out the security guard, walked through the aisles grabbing food and drinks and then walked out. Totally nuts.

ShakeMyHeadSadly · 2021-10-13T02:04:36+00:00

"We can't continue to let these anchor institutions close that so many people rely on."

And you can't let these organized theft rings run rampant, either. As far as I can tell, there has been no legitimate response to any of this to date. I don't blame them for closing these stores.

DennisMoves · 2021-10-13T00:22:24+00:00

The Service Merchandise model for physical stores is coming back. these guys were way ahead of their time. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Service_Merchandise

Captain_Hampockets · 2021-10-12T23:08:15+00:00

I moved from SF about 7 years ago, after 17 years there.

FINALLY

I am shocked that it took so long. Even 10 years ago, you'd see people go into the Walgreens at either 16th or 24th and Mission Bart, or the Van Ness / Market / Mission one (whatever the address, you know the one), and see people just fucking empty shelves into their bags and dip. No fucking consequences. It's MUCH worse now, apparently.

Prosthemadera · 2021-10-13T07:53:14+00:00

San Francisco Board of Supervisor Ahsha Safai of District 11 said he was “devastated” by the loss of the store on Mission Street on Twitter, writing “I am completely devastated by this news - this Walgreens is less than a mile from seven schools and has been a staple for seniors, families and children for decades. This closure will significantly impact this community.”

Very concerning that this one store was so important and that a whole community was so dependent on it.

pilesofcleanlaundry · 2021-10-13T13:59:03+00:00

And San Francisco officials are blaming the company. It sounds like their plan for a response is to try to outlaw stores closing.

BalthazarShenanigans · 2021-10-13T02:49:03+00:00

I knew two women that did this. They were fast, accurate, and without remorse. Its not regular shoplifting. They had maps and plans for a three state area. Figured Walgreens would've caught on by now.

lqxpl · 2021-10-13T02:34:41+00:00

Many years ago in San Antonio, a grocer closed a bunch of locations that were being stolen from regularly. There was an outcry about the store closing down the locations in poorer neighborhoods, so the grocer just packed up all of its stores and left.

That was in Texas. I can't imagine what kind of shitstorm blowback Walgreens is going to get over doing this in California.

Anne_Nonymous789 · 2021-10-13T01:39:01+00:00

That’s why you can’t have nice things.

Myfourcats1 · 2021-10-13T03:49:24+00:00

This is how you end up living in a food desert and a pharmacy desert.

robertone53 · 2021-10-13T02:17:24+00:00

True story out of Las Vegas:

The city engaged Magic Johnson and local banks to help build a true suburban shopping center in the middle of "Westside" as its known here in Las Vegas.

Westside has always had more than its share of crime and poverty. There were small corner stores, liquor stores a plenty and a 7-11 or two but nothing like a real shopping center every other neighborhood has.

This center had a major grocery store as an anchor and other local hopefuls signed up for a storefront and everybody had help with reduced taxes and SBA loans.

With great fanfare it opened. It just quietly died. Why? Due to shoplifting from the very neighborhood it was designed to help. They bled this store dry. Organized crime? Maybe. The neighborhood organized itself.

Kids learned from their friends and older family members this was a place to steal from. The company could not arrest their way out of it. They did what the retailers in San Francisco are doing. Closing down the store.

Mexico has private armed security at its stores and some hispanic based stores here in the US also. Two or more per shift if needed. They will follow you and arrest you. They are not afraid of using force to detain you either. Good places to shop.Why? Because prices are fair and shoplifters go to jail.

GreyBoyTigger · 2021-10-13T04:07:27+00:00

If you think this is bad, go check out downtown and Union Square. It’s frightening how deserted that entire area is now

staffsargent · 2021-10-13T11:36:27+00:00

This was in India, not the U.S., but I once went to a mall where they made you take your shoes off when you came in (the floors were carpeted) so you couldn't steal something and run away. They also had a guard with a sniper rifle who walked around a catwalk so he could see the whole mall. I've never seen security like that anywhere in my life.

MillianaT · 2021-10-12T23:27:40+00:00

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Alarming_Metal6264 · 2021-10-13T02:48:33+00:00

I’ll say this… I work in mgmt for a nationwide retailer. Literally our corporates policy changed about a year and a half ago and basically included no plan to stop anyone from taking things without paying for them. They look at it as a liability on their end if an employee or customer winds up getting hurt in the process of stopping a shoplifter which may be justified. However I have requested that their be some form of security or training class for certain employees to no avail. I literally watch people walk in with an empty book bag and by the time they leave it’s packed. Once all the stores like Walgreens goes it’ll go to Walmart and then to retail food establishments and then it won’t stop. Why pay for something when you know you won’t get in trouble for it and when you know you can come back to the exact same location the next day and do it again?

hofstaders_law · 2021-10-13T01:39:35+00:00

At least the DA was able to use his position to get his daddy paroled.

sulaymanf · 2021-10-13T06:18:35+00:00

Shoplifters love to claim that they’re not hurting anyone and corporations are rich. Well, if everyone copies you then we get this.

longhegrindilemna · 2021-10-13T15:30:45+00:00

Smart move by Walgreens.

Why stay and struggle? If nobody will help protect the store, then the best thing to do is close up shop.

That will send the strongest signal to city hall and to the community.

insomniax20 · 2021-10-12T22:47:42+00:00

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mac2914 · 2021-10-13T15:14:02+00:00

“California law dictates that theft of less than $950 in goods is penalized as a nonviolent misdemeanor.”

Wonder if that’s the problem

Agathyrsi · 2021-10-12T23:20:59+00:00

So I'm in an area often that faces a lot of challenges - Paterson, NJ. The only countermeasure that seems to work is when the merchant pays $200+ an hour for a uniformed officer to stand at the door; because they are the only ones who legally have power to prevent the theft and them actually witnessing the crime adds gravitas to the charge. Shopkeeper's privilege is incredibly weak here so loss prevention and private security aren't usually able to do anything other than observe and report; although occasionally a security guard will try something but it never ends well (severe bodily injuries instead of just item theft). What makes it so weak is the store has no right to physically detain or restrain anyone, the liability of anyone getting hurt, and the penalties for any wrong accusations of mishandling the situation are severe. Even though some places do manage to risk restraining a suspect (something is eventually going to go wrong), corporate policy in the state is almost always simply observe and report.

It's astonishing the left of retail theft that occurs at corporate chain stores (cvs, walgreens, family dollar, home depot). It legit is at least semi-organized because multiple people will be in on it, whipping out trash bags and scooping an entire shelf; with an emphasis on Tide and diapers/wipes. Most are even done during the day. There's even times where there isn't any cashier available and it becomes a shitshow. It's not 24/7 chaos, but some days they get hit hard and they close early. The PD are busy chasing violent crimes and policing drug offenses, so they don't always show up quickly for a theft. Furthermore, most are under $200 which is a disorderly persons offense, so a small-fry on the legal docket a prosecutor has to deal with. All that is really done is they hand over the camera footage, hope they get a match and can cumulatively charge someone for a higher offense, and maybe one day the detectives and prosecutors can build a case. With mask mandates its become a lot more difficult to identify people, too.

The usual suspects are often people with serious substance abuse problems or lower level gang members and loosely organized crime rings. There's de facto no legal conceal carry or anything like that and staff/witnesses aren't really supposed to physically intervene so there's not much deterrent. The debate in the community is that - if physical alterations are allowed, would that actually stop the thefts? Or would we now just have thefts + assaults/homicides? Or are the criminals only doing it because there's nothing deterring them aside from possible consequences after the fact (they get ID'd and law enforcement can find them).

I have even heard through the rumor mill of people getting a car with temp tags (usually PA) and driving out to a "soft" area to hit it hard. The results were actually extremely varied. Some of these I hear people getting away with $5k in power tools and electric scooters. Others I hear they try stores with veteran LP and police departments that are fully ready to take this head on and respond immediately (due to it being a lower crime area) and results in arrests. However, the state has no cash bail so they are released quite quickly unless they meet specific criteria.

My final take is that many of these communities are under-served, and their governments have to do damage control (focus on violent felonies/high level drugs) instead of property crimes.

Steven1789 · 2021-10-13T13:02:14+00:00

On a Sunday evening in October 2016, went into the Walgreens on Geary Street, just a few blocks east of Union Square (tourist area with tons of shopping, etc.). As I went to grab a $10 bag of pistachios, I realized the packages were locked down with a cable—a store clerk had to undo the lock for me. He explained that the absurdly high theft rate required the store to keep certain things secured.

Meanwhile, a store manager was trying to stop a guy from walking out with several cans of pricey hair spray and some other beauty supplies he had stuffed into a big shopping bag. The wannabe thief explained he had bought the stuff somewhere else.

The store had 3-4 staff patrolling the aisles trying to stop shoplifters.

I’ve lived in and around NYC for decades and thought I’d seen it all.

foxdvd · 2021-10-13T12:18:31+00:00

Years ago, when flat screen tvs really started to blow up, my ex wife's friend wanted to sale us an "extra" tv she had for about half of what it cost. We went over there and I noticed about 6 of these tvs still in the box. When I asked, she told us her boyfriend and his friends stole them from Wal-Marts. Their scam was to go into the store in pairs and just walk out with them. There was usually an older person at the door and they did nothing. They would also sometimes buy something cheap and walk out the same time as the other did with the TV. When the alarm went off the person with the small bag would walk right over to security in frustration and say out loud "I told her to check the tag!" while the other kept walking.

We did not buy one of the TVs...and I refused to have anything else to do with her friend.

vacuum_everyday · 2021-10-13T00:11:08+00:00

The bomb at the end of the article: “California law dictates that theft of less than $950 in goods is penalized as a nonviolent misdemeanor.”

This is not someone stealing something to stay alive, this is organized crime and California needs to rework this provision to give it teeth.

Hutz5000 · 2021-10-13T02:18:44+00:00

San Francisco Supervisor Ahsha Safai of District 11 Must be the most obtuse elected government official in the city. What did you think was going to happen when you did absolutely nothing to stop it all that time?

Me? I’m the guy who did my job, you must be the other guy.

estamosready · 2021-10-13T09:24:42+00:00

There’s a Walgreens in Oakland that seems to have a police officer inside most of the time. Not sure if the neighborhood would be Redwood Heights but I thought that was interesting because I never saw that before .They even have their own parking spot specifically for police.

2021-10-12T23:13:23+00:00

DA’s, Judges and Legislators are facilitating and enabling this.

Varahdin · 2021-10-12T22:42:46+00:00

Not bananas but reality. I’m surprised Walgreens and cvs haven’t done this earlier. For community members complaining about this, this is your supervisors and elected officials failing you, making it more inconvenient for you to get your goods and medicines

Junkstar · 2021-10-12T23:07:29+00:00

This is happening in nyc too. Totally out of control.

Dfndr612 · 2021-10-13T14:44:49+00:00

ORC has and continues to sell online; FB Marketplace, Craigs List, Ebay, and Amazon…even Walmart has independent resellers, where the products have been stolen/shoplifted.

What is really shocking, is that these groups have literal "stores" in various neighborhoods (Queens, NY is one) that sell products to people in the know about where to buy stolen merchandise. Jeans, health and beauty products, tools, you name it. These "stores" even have their own CCTV cameras to catch people stealing…..the already stolen merchandise!

2wheeloffroad · 2021-10-12T23:34:47+00:00

There will be a chain reaction of other good stores closing and then good people leaving. Plus, this is confirmation that big business is getting out, and small businesses often follow.

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