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Instead of the products in locked cabinets, there should be in-store lock-ups for those caught stealing. Products should have microchips set to trigger alarms if they have not been purchased. Any person leaving the store would have to go through detection zones

The alarms at the door from security tags and locking carts become white noise to employees. Just like constantly having to unlock cabinets for basic, having to deal with the interruptions of alarms is mentally draining. The solution in parts of Atlanta is the walled off store within a store where you have to checkout your items at that point. At the grocery store it’s not basic food items, I guess because ebt covers that but it’s baby items, hygiene items and cleaning supplies. At least where I was a few years ago they hadn’t moved OTC meds to the store within a store.

As a shopper it’s amazing to be in one location with endless security tv screens and locked down items and going deeper into the suburbs and seeing none of that. That tells me what I need to know about an area. We should all be able to live in places where theft is low and inconvenience is low which means prices should be low. Unfortunately these stores probably subsidize high theft ones. Seeing grocery stores with shops inside is another clue where you are. The mini mall within a grocery store means an attempt to offset operating losses through rent. This is fairly common at Walmart now so I don’t know if it’s a hedge on losses there as much as walking into a grocery store with a salon, nail shop, phone store, etc.

Only intolerance of petty theft will change this situation. The community has to address the issue it faces. It’s not about money. Not in SF.

“Products should have microchips set to trigger alarms if they have not been purchased. Any person leaving the store would have to go through detection zones.”

I remember when K-Mart did that. SO embarrassing when bells and sirens went off as you walked out of the store — with stuff you had paid for. Someone would have to check your stuff against your receipt, and neutralize the chip thingy before you could leave.

Haven’t seen that setup in a long time. I wonder why it stopped.