Cross-Posted from DaleGlading.com
_
I am not particularly good at math, but even I can divide 112 billion by 330 million. The correct answer is 339… but what is the question?
The first number ($112 billion) reflects the total amount of reported retail theft in 2022, a 20% jump over 2021. The second number (330 million) is the population of the United States. And so, the answer – $339 – is the amount of money every American man, woman, and child is being charged to cover the losses incurred by retailers due to theft.
Sure, some companies absorb those losses internally if they are big enough and have sufficient financial reserves. But in most instances, those costs are simply passed onto consumers in the form of higher prices. That means that law-abiding customers are being penalized for the actions of lawbreaking customers.
Some retailers are also bailing on inner-city neighborhoods and shuttering their stores. For instance, Target just announced that it is closing nine stores in major U.S. cities in four states because of violent crime and rampant theft. “We cannot continue operating these stores because theft and organized retail crime are threatening the safety of our team and guests, and contributing to unsustainable business performance,” Target said in a statement. “We know that our stores serve an important role in their communities, but we can only be successful if the working and shopping environment is safe for all.”
Meanwhile, Lowes, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Macy’s, Foot Locker, and Dollar General are all blaming increased shoplifting for their diminishing profits. As a result of so-called “organized retail crime,” multiple retailers reported being forced to close a specific store location (28%), reduce operating hours (45%), or reduce or alter in-store product selection (30%).
So, what is the solution? Well, if I ran a retail store… or a retail company… I would certainly beef up my security and widely advertise that I had done so. That measure alone would reassure paying customers and dissuade the ones who consistently help themselves to a five-finger discount. I would also develop a close and symbiotic relationship with local law enforcement agencies (and judges) so that shoplifting, let alone smash and grab looting, was considered a crime for which someone should be arrested, prosecuted, fined, and imprisoned.
Enough is enough. Let me say that even louder: ENOUGH IS ENOUGH! Visiting your local department store shouldn’t be a harrowing experience or a life-threatening one. It’s high time that socially responsible people stopped paying the price for socially irresponsible thieves and thugs. There are more of us than there are of them, so let’s stop living in fear.
It all starts with citizens demanding that their elected representatives take crime seriously and that judges back up the police by handing down hefty fines and lengthy sentences for shoplifters, looters, and other dregs of society. Bring back public flogging and chain gangs if necessary… but do something and do it now!
Visiting Target – which I haven’t done in years since they went woke and opened up their ladies restrooms to transgender men – shouldn’t resemble a trip through downtown Kabul. And retailers shouldn’t be forced to vacate entire cities, leaving citizens without access to their products and services, because of out-of-control crime.
Let’s take back our streets… and our stores.
