The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Theft-curbing methods angering shoppers
CVS, Target and other retailers locking up everyday items.
When the pandemic threat eased, Maureen Holohan was eager to scale back her online shopping and return to physical stores so she could more easily compare prices and scour ingredients on beauty and health care products for herself and her three children.
But that experience was short-lived. In the past six months or so, CVS, Target and other retailers where Holohan shops have been locking up more everyday items like deodorant and laundry detergent as a way to reduce theft. And the 56-year-old Chevy Chase, Maryland resident is now back to shopping online or visiting stores where she doesn’t have to wait for someone to retrieve products.
“I know they’ve got to do something, but locking the stuff up definitely just has me walking by that aisle,” said Holohan, a business consultant.
Across the retail landscape, businesses have been putting items under lock and key as a quick way to stop thieves. Some are considering extreme measures, including Rite Aid Corp., whose chief retail officer Andre Persaud told analysts on an earnings call late last year that it’s looking at “literally putting everything behind showcases to ensure the products are there for customers who want to buy it.” It’s also considering using off-duty police officers at some of its stores.
But by trying to solve one problem, these businesses may be creating another: turning off shoppers with overreaching measures.
“Everything has changed. We used to be catered to,” said Sheila Schlegel, 43, of Queens, New York.
But now, “if you’re coming to the store, there’s one person at that store, and that person you can tell has been there for 15 hours,” said Schlegel, who recalled an incident where she waited for a sales clerk to unlock an item only to be told he didn’t have the key. “You don’t want to ask them for something if you don’t have to.”
For consumers of color especially, the stepped-up security measures risk alienating a population that already feels overpoliced. That could unravel some of the inroads that chains like CVS, Sephora and Walmart made in the aftermath of George Floyd’s murder in 2020, when they promised to avoid racially biased practices like locking up products only for Black customers.
“Whenever there’s a push toward greater criminalization, whenever there’s a narrative of increased crime and things like that, it is always consumers of color that are going to be bearing the brunt,” said Tiffany Gill, associate professor of history at Rutgers University, and an expert in African American Women’s History, fashion and beauty culture.
CVS Health Corp. and Sephora declined to comment for the story. Walmart said that its position of not locking up beauty products for women of color remains the same. Target confirmed it was locking up more products but instead of targeting certain items, it locks up entire categories.
It’s unclear how much money retailers are losing due to organized retail crime — or if the problem has substantially increased. But the issue has received more notice in the past few years as high-profile smash-and-grab retail thefts and flash mob robberies have garnered national media attention.
The National Retail Federation, the nation’s largest retail trade group, said its latest security survey of roughly 60 retailers found that inventory loss — called shrink — clocked in at an average rate of 1.4% last year, representing $94.5 billion in losses.
The greatest portion of shrink — 37% — came from external theft, including products taken during organized shoplifting incidents, the trade group said. It also noted retailers, on average, saw a 26.5% uptick in organized theft incidents last year.
But while high theft in stores depletes inventory and limits sales, locking up items also reduces sales — by 15% to 25%, according to Joe Budano, CEO of Indyme, a technology company that sells retailers security devices.
John Catsimatidis, who owns the New York supermarket chains Gristedes and D’agostino’s, said the chain has locked up more products like aspirin and deodorant in the past year but not as many as his drug store chain rivals. His chains have also doubled the number of security guards at some of its stores
He acknowledged that the move has resulted in some lost sales from impulse shopping but the added security has made shoppers more comfortable and has helped reduce theft, although he’s not sure by how much.
“This is not an exact science,” he said.
Store workers, meanwhile, face the pressure of trying to do their jobs while also monitoring theft. Isabela Burrows, 20, a manager at pet supplies chain Petsmart in Howell, Michigan, noted that her store in recent months has had to lock up more items like diffusers to calm dogs and cats and electric shaving shears. But while she feels more comfortable, she’s also had to deal with shopper annoyance.
“I feel overwhelmed,” Burrows said. “They’re frustrated with me, and I have to find the item.”
In what could be a sign of the overall challenges, drugstore chain Walgreens acknowledged that it might have overblown the shoplifting threat and gone too far in its security measures.
“Maybe, we cried too much last year,” James Kehoe, global chief financial officer at Walgreens told analysts during an earnings call last month. “Probably we put in too much and we might step back a little bit from that.”
But a Walgreens spokesman cautioned that while the company is pleased to see retail theft levels starting to stabilize, they are “still a serious national problem affecting all retailers.”
Some retailers are coming out with less intrusive solutions to store theft. Home improvement retailer Lowe’s has followed Home Depot in testing technology that unlocks power tools when shoppers buy them at the cash registers instead of resorting to keeping the items in cages.
Anat Shakedd, the CEO and co-founder of Nexite, a company that makes tiny Bluetooth tags that can go on items, says her company has partnered with a top department store in the U.S. and other brands across Europe and Israel to help them monitor their inventory without locking things up.
The Freedom Case, developed by Indyme, asks shoppers for a cellphone number to opt into its service. The shoppers then receive a text message with a four-digit code that lets them open the case. Customers can retain their self-service privileges as long as they show normal shopping behaviors. But if they exhibit suspicious behaviors, store workers will be notified to provide assistance, he said.
Holohan said she doesn’t mind extra security guards, but she’s not interested in giving out her phone number.
“It’s invasive,” she said. “If they’re going to make it that hard to buy something, I’ll find somewhere else to buy that.”
Monday was Truck Day at Truist Park. For the longest time, it was just truck day, no capital letters. The Braves would load an equipment van and their highest-salaried player would drive it to Florida for the start of spring training, even though the actual first day of spring was a ways away.
That part about the highest-salaried Brave being the wheelman? I made it up. Though Greg Maddux and his heavy-duty ride clogging the Mcdonald’s drive-thru in Lake City, Fla., would have made quite the photo op.
That’s what Truck Day has become — a moment for photographers and videographers. There’s the gear being toted. There’s the back door being shut. There’s the vehicle pulling out. Pitchers and catchers to report soon! Spring is here! (Sort of.)
Pitchers and catchers — at least those participating in the World Baseball Classic — are due in North Port next Monday. The first full workout will be Feb. 21. The first exhibition game is Feb. 25. I know some folks get excited about spring training. I’m not among them. Then again, I’m easily bored.
My first exposure to spring training — when the Braves trained in West Palm Beach — coincided with their first workout. The team exited the clubhouse and took a languid lap and a half around the bases. (Two full laps would have been too much too soon.) Batting practice commenced. Around 10:30 a.m., the players returned to
the clubhouse. By 11, they were walking across the infield in civilian clothes, headed — I assumed — for lunch before returning for the afternoon session.
Then it hit me. There was no afternoon session. These weren’t two-a-days. (That’s for football.) The Braves were done for the day, off to practice golf or fishing or napping. How do baseball players maintain such a frantic pace?
But maybe that’s just me. Maybe you’ll be riveted by reports of who shows up In The Best Shape Of His Life. Maybe the Braves’ few issues will obsess you until Opening Day, which is March 30 in D.C. I’m willing to take some things on faith. I have confidence the Braves will find someone to play shortstop and left field by the time real games begin. If not, Austin Riley and Michael Harris will have much acreage to cover.
My interest in spring training 2023 begins and ends with two names: Ian Anderson and Mike Soroka, the most promising young pitchers drafted during the Great Reset. Soroka made the 2019 All-star team. Anderson remains one of two starting pitchers to exit a World Series game without yielding a hit. (The other is Don Larsen.)
The 2022 Braves won 101 games while getting 111⅔ innings from Anderson and nothing from Soroka. The latter hasn’t thrown a big-league pitch since Aug. 3, 2020. He tore the same Achilles tendon twice. Anderson has had shoulder issues; he also tweaked an oblique. Still, his problem in 2022 was that he didn’t resemble his former self. His ERA in the majors was 5.00. In the minors, it was 5.40.
As we speak, the Braves have filled 80% of their rotation: Max Fried, Kyle Wright, Spencer Strider and Charlie Morton. That leaves one spot. Could be Soroka’s. Could be Anderson’s. If it falls to neither, what do the Braves do with these two? Long relief ?
Yours truly has long identified Soroka as the most important player in the organization. He isn’t anymore. He has worked 214 big-league innings, 174⅔ of those coming in 2019. Of the Braves’ five consecutive division titles, only the second saw him play a major role. In that year, he was this team’s best young pitcher since the days of Smoltz and Avery. Then again, Josh Donaldson was a big deal back in 2019, too.
Anderson’s biggest moments have come in postseason. He made four starts in 2020, four more in 2021. His playoff ERA is 1.26, which is Koufax/gibson stuff. He left Game 7 of the 2020 NLCS with the score tied. He left Game 3 of the 2021 World Series after five innings with the Braves ahead and the Astros hitless. Had there been a Game 7 in Houston, he’d have started it.
The Braves drafted both out of high school. Soroka was the No. 28 pick in 2015, Anderson No. 3 the next year. Soroka is 25; Anderson will turn 25 in May. They’ve started 96 games, counting playoffs, between them. Fried has started 118 by himself.
For now, we’ll leave it there. Godspeed to the truck and its drivers. Let me know when Soroka/ Anderson get around to pitching a game that counts.
The above is part of a regular exercise, written and curated by yours truly,
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