Posted on 05/31/2023 3:13:11 PM PDT by Twotone
President of Giant Food, Ira Kress, has lamented the rise in shoplifting and violence, which has put a strain on the company's ability to do business in recent years.
Kress said that the chain of over 150 supermarkets in the eastern United States would be taking aggressive steps to combat crime and made it clear that closing stores is the "last thing" he wants to do.
"To say [theft has] risen tenfold in the last five years would not be an understatement," Kress said in an interview with the Washington Post, noting that violent incidents have also "increased exponentially" in the same time period.
He explained that while many of the actions the company has taken to deter shoplifters have added hassle to customers' experience, "the alternative is worse."
"The last thing I want to do is close stores," Kress added, "but I've got to be able to run them safely and profitably."
According to Kress, shoplifting has "continued to escalate" to a point where he can no longer predict exactly what thieves might be after. He noted that perpetrators appear to be going after anything they can get their hands on, from food to cosmetics, and household goods.
He reminisced about the days when an employee could simply chase a shoplifter and get the product back without worrying about them "pulling a knife or gun."
As The Washington Post reports, measures taken to deter theft have included closing certain entrances to restrict the flow of traffic in and out of the store, moving higher-priced items behind protective barriers, and stocking cheaper items on the shelves.
Giant Food is not the only American supermarket chain seeing an increase in theft and violent incidents, and many have taken measures to ensure products and customers are safe.
Whole Foods, for example, went so far as to close stores in San Francisco after safety concerns became too overwhelming.
Ira Kress sounds like a white supremacist racist.
/s
I think grocery stores have a very small profit margin anyway. Closing hurts the neighborhoods as well but I can’t expect them to lose money.
Do it. Let em eat snap plastic.
As with everything else, these wimpy woke CEOS have the choice: dump on my customers who are good normal citizens and patriots or, oppose the shoplifters, LGBTQ+ and BLM and woke types.
We notice.
We are angry.
We don’t forgive.
“..the rise in shoplifting and violence, which has put a strain on the company’s ability to do business..”
How does every one of these stores that allow no-penalty shoplifting not be already closed? I know bigger chains can absorb costs so they can virtue signal their wokeness,but what’s the point? It would be more efficient to just deliver the products to the thief’s homes and save on wear and tear.
It looked so clever. Jewelry stores, electronics and phone displays. Food stores. Just steal and walk out to a row of waiting SUVs. No employees will try to stop you. No police will do anything. If you’re nice to the criminals they won’t kill you or sue you for millions of dollars.
Then the higher prices for good people to pay at the stores and the diminishing customer base can’t keep the places afloat. Good bye.
I hope the CEOS suffer.
The article describes the Giant in Alexandria to a ‘T.’
They closed a small store here in a relatively low crime area. Hopefully they won’t close the larger one.
That’s what EBT cards are for. Take from the taxpayers and not the store.
Never forget, the bums you stood in line to vote for caused this mess.
So, which Dumb-O-Crats did Kress support in the last election?
I heard this might happen in a Youtube video from the Epic Economist.
Shoot yourselves in the foot much? Big Ole duh..
In our low crime county where shoplifters may get probation with the first strike if they have no record of previous crimes, but thereafter do a few years in prison, we have a Dollar Tree which will be opening soon. I usually see those stores in urban areas rather than on a rural highway. Some corporations may be seeing the benefit of just ditching the idea of locating in high volume areas in exchange for low crime, steady customer, law-abiding, locations. Dollar Tree might be thinking of giving Dollar General some competition.
Agreed 👍
Hey AB, hold my, uh, nevermind.....
Please do it. We need more food deserts in this country to punish democrat voters.
Costco has lacking produce and fruit but the trash is kept out of the stores.
I went to the Kroger store this morning that I had been shopping at for over 30 years.
It’s location is on the edge of town.
Not a high crime area nor an area that gets much of the minority community shopping there.
I used the self-check out as I have done over the last several years as they just don’t have that many check lanes open particularly in the early part of the day.
I think after I hit payment method, a screen came up saying ten items and that an attendant will be with you.
An attendant came over and counted the items that I had bagged, hit a couple of screens, and told me I could continue.
I asked what did the screen mean, and she had that I had ten items which wasn’t said in curt way but simply as a matter of fact.
I didn’t feel like asking any more questions and left.
But evidently that is one of the measures grocery stores are taking that was mentioned in the article.
As a law abiding citizen, I’m cool with it.
They gotta do what they gotta do to stay profitable and remain in business.
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