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Giant Food president suggests he might shutter stores due to shoplifting surge
The Post Millennial ^ | May 30, 2023 | Jarryd Jaeger

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.


TOPICS:
KEYWORDS: anarchotyranny; crime; dystopia; giantfood; maryland; shoplifting; theft; thugs
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To: blackdog

Desertification in process.


41 posted on 05/31/2023 5:02:47 PM PDT by TheDon (Resist the usurpers! Remember the J6 political prisoners!)
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To: ottbmare

How about the stores band together and prohibit entry for shopping for anyone from the prosecutors office?


42 posted on 05/31/2023 5:13:23 PM PDT by TheDon (Resist the usurpers! Remember the J6 political prisoners!)
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To: TheDon
My Kroger is called the "Crack Kroger". The things I observe there astonish me. I could drive another mile to go to the upscale Kroger, but I have a great relationship with the department managers at my "Crack Kroger".

People of color don't buy whole salmon, a whole NY Strip, cases of produce, etc.... so I get really good deals when I ask for them. I just have to not steal and be courteous. Salmon going for $9 a pound I get for $3. If I buy a whole NY Strip it goes from $12.99 a pound to $4 a pound.

43 posted on 05/31/2023 5:13:56 PM PDT by blackdog ((Z28.310) My dog Sam eats purple flowers.)
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To: Twotone

I was shopping in a Giant grocery store in PA several years ago. Went into the bathroom. A homeless looking guy was brushing his teeth with toothpaste and a toothbrush he had obviously taken from the store. I reported it to a manager in the store, who shrugged it off, saying something like, “The guy is homeless and its ok with us.” I simply walked away, amazed at his generosity with other people’s money.


44 posted on 05/31/2023 5:27:28 PM PDT by Tudorfly (All things are possible within the will of God.)
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To: Twotone

Relocate the supermarket to the nearest prison grounds. Hire prisoners with the understanding that the losses of any shoplifted items will be deducted from the prisoners’ commissary fund.


45 posted on 05/31/2023 5:34:46 PM PDT by T.B. Yoits
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To: CFW

Dollar General has a profitable metric for new store locations.

Most times they’re in rural areas with very low or no crime.


46 posted on 05/31/2023 5:36:41 PM PDT by meatloaf
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To: Twotone

I’m happy to have moved to a small rural town in W. TN, where a trip to the store is pretty much like the 1950’s.


47 posted on 05/31/2023 5:57:12 PM PDT by The Duke
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To: Twotone

Are the Giant Food Stores in PA the same company as the ones in MD, DE and VA? They have different logos. The photo in the article shows the PA store logo.


48 posted on 05/31/2023 5:58:10 PM PDT by chickenlips (Neuter your politicians)
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To: Twotone

OMG!

I have so much I can say on this. This is our prime store and I’ve been highly irritated the last few weeks alone how they are acquiescing to thieves by hobbling us legitimate customers.

BTW, the photo is WRONG and a DC paper should know that.

Unfortunately there are 3 food chains in the MD-PA area that all use the name “Giant”, but that photo is not my MD store.


49 posted on 05/31/2023 6:11:24 PM PDT by the OlLine Rebel (Common sense is an uncommon virtue./Federal-run medical care is as good as state-run DMV.e)
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To: chickenlips

The photo is wrong. It is MY home state chain in MD.


50 posted on 05/31/2023 6:25:20 PM PDT by the OlLine Rebel (Common sense is an uncommon virtue./Federal-run medical care is as good as state-run DMV.e)
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To: ottbmare

I agree.

I am a major customer of this chain, and their pathetic reactions to this anger me.

But, I also get they are hobbled as are all of us to do anything. “Justice” has been twisted to mean never hurt the thugs and thieves. If anyone does anything you’re doomed.

It is the fault of the commie Dem system that favors thugs, mostly because they’re inevitably black.


51 posted on 05/31/2023 6:38:16 PM PDT by the OlLine Rebel (Common sense is an uncommon virtue./Federal-run medical care is as good as state-run DMV.e)
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To: ArcadeQuarters

Where are you located?


52 posted on 05/31/2023 6:44:08 PM PDT by 82nd Bragger (Count to four except when in a helicopter)
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To: Cowgirl of Justice

1 - 3%. They depend on volume to stay afloat. That’s why they’re so huge usually. Attack the volume enough and they can’t stay open.


53 posted on 05/31/2023 6:55:29 PM PDT by firebrand
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To: Twotone

eventually, all brick and mortar retail stores that don’t want to pull out of the inner cities will have to institute membership shopping like costco and sams wholesale clubs where paid membership cards are checked upon entering and receipts checked upon exit ... if that doesn’t help, then entrance and exit mantraps will also have to instituted like those used for entry and exit to high-end jewelery stores ...


54 posted on 05/31/2023 7:19:10 PM PDT by catnipman (In a post-covid world, ALL "science" is now political science: stolen elections have consequences)
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To: 82nd Bragger

Lancaster County. Outside the city.


55 posted on 06/01/2023 12:32:55 AM PDT by ArcadeQuarters (You can't remove RINOs by voting for them!)
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To: libertylover

Liquor stores thrive in those same neighborhoods. Maybe the key is small stores, lots of security, big black gates and bars on all the windows...

Or better - a system of free memberships... anyone caught stealing loses their membership... forever.


56 posted on 06/01/2023 12:46:37 AM PDT by GOPJ (American companies: YOUR Ad Agency needs to look like America NOT like a San Francisco Gay bathhouse)
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To: Twotone

Entry card with credit card/ checking account attached for scanned entry. No other entry allowed.

Cart inspection at exit.

Is it that much different than Costco, Sam’s or BJ’s?


57 posted on 06/01/2023 4:21:19 AM PDT by PittsburghAfterDark (There is no one more racist than a white liberal.)
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To: ottbmare

“What do you mean when you say “allow no-penalty shoplifting. What do you expect them to do? Send the cashiers out to wrestle the shoplifters to the ground and get shot over a tray of steaks?”

“Unless they shoplifter has taken enough stuff to constitute a felony no state’s attorney will prosecute.”

I don’t expect the store to enforce the law. I would expect local law enforcement to enforce it. That’s what I mean by no-penalty. Things weren’t always like this. The criminals have been given the go ahead by dim run cities that decided police and actual laws were the problem.


58 posted on 06/01/2023 6:24:42 AM PDT by bluescape (Mainstream Media-The guard dog that holds you down while the attacker has his way.)
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To: GOPJ

You remind me that the larger stores in my area have an adjacent area to sell liquor and the profits on that part of the stores are probably much higher than the grocery parts of the stores.


59 posted on 06/01/2023 6:33:41 AM PDT by libertylover (Our biggest problem, by far, is that almost all of big media is AGENDA-DRIVEN, not-truth driven.)
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To: ArcadeQuarters

Politics aside, PA is a beautiful state, and my mother was born in Minersville. I hope a wide support community.


60 posted on 06/15/2023 6:30:29 PM PDT by 82nd Bragger (Count to four except when in a helicopter)
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