I have the same reaction whenever i find what i need… Locked away…
I leave
The one employee in the entire store is busy at checkout. I’m just gonna order it on Amazon.
Yeah, “I’ll just Amazon it” is becoming a more common phrase. It’s cheap. The delivery is surprisingly fast.
Downside is you’re making one of our wealthiest oligarchs even more powerful.
And, of course, it could be stolen off your doorstep before you can even get to it.
Ehh, I mean if you were gonna buy it from CVS/Walgreen’s, they aren’t exactly an altruistic alternative…
I agree, best to avoid the wealthy oligarchs, but sometimes you need medicated allergy eye drops and Bob’s Corner Store doesn’t have them.
Totally agree. I’m no saint. I’ve purchased from Amazon. But the last election showed us that Bezos is very much not our friend. I’ll be damned if I give that leech another Amazon Prime subscription.
Don’t forget how it’s becoming more and more likely you’ll just get a counterfeit.
Yup. My local Safeway has 2 security guards on duty at all times and one by one the aisles are starting to get locked up.
We started shopping elsewhere.
It’s not just a convenience thing. Although it’s really shitty to wait for a person to unlock it and then feel pressured while they stand there as I’m reading the labels and comparing items. It also just feels icky. Like I’m being punished for something. Probably for not being rich.
What do you suggest the stores do to curb theft? I’m being serious too? Just ignore it?
You’re gonna roll eyes on the answer or already know what needs to be done. We need to change the system so people are less inclined to shoplift.
How much of this shit is managers embezzling goods from their own stores and labelling it stolen or being barcodejacked at the self checkout? They also didn’t note the cabinets successfully reduced thefts
Not as much as you would guess. Managers are the most likely source of serious theft, but at the same time, they are usually being paid $70k-$100k a year and typically have bonus agreements where if the stores profits go up in a financial quarter they get a payout, and there’s a lot of store managers getting more money from their bonus than their payroll, so to motivate theft you need a VERY greedy manager who is going to get more than 6 figures from the scheme or he’s risking his job for less money than his job pays anyway. The most common method is falsified sales, that’s gonna get him his bonus when he knows he’s not hitting metrics and was really expecting the payout. I’ve seen a few managers get caught on this. Next you have the more complex attempts, like filling in fake data for large ticket item deliveries or printing out delivery sheets with no sale in the system at all, then you have the delivery to a known place and you keep the high ticket items and sell them out otherwise profit off the delivery, this can go on for some time before it becomes evident. Sometimes there’s smaller scams like the Walmart managers that were cashing out giftcards, putting them back on the shelf and 100% getting away with it because Walmarts system was probably out of date with modern standards. Then you have the wild schemes like getting free mech from vendors, returning that mech in the system before inventory and getting yourself fired for petty theft before anyone figures out you have stolen several million dollars in comped merchandise that never existed in the first place so no one’s even looking for it. Being fired for theft is a nice master touch, because it caused a ton of confusion when they bring the charges to police. Who are easily confused. But you know. It’s not ALL management and a lot of high theft items are too cheap to be internal theft, spray paint, exacto knives, cheap earbuds, usually it’s a ‘‘I can’t get past the ID check’’ type of theft.
Its funny because I now recall talking to somebody who worked at an electronics store and they would throw items in the trash, report them as damaged and recover them later when taking out garbage.
Its so funny to think now he’d have the keys to the shelves and the same strategy would probably still work.
It was never about “theft.” That hyped “theft” up as a cover to hide their own inept management.
Idk, theft was pretty rampant at some of my local stores, not quite as bad lately. I’ve personally witnessed a few people steal from my local grocery store in the last year or two. My local Home Depot was even worse until their security guard shot a guy and they rearranged the checkout lanes. Now in order to go through the exit you have to go through a long corridor of self checkout lanes with several employees. And I’d probably be less likely to rob a place if I’d heard their security guard shot a guy.
Around here that just means they’d shoot the security guy first. That’s why so few banks have visible armed security anymore.
The current SOP is to just let the perps take whatever, don’t offer any resistance, and let the cops track them down, and make an insurance claim. And optionally slip a dye pack in the proverbial money bag. If you’re a bank or a big enough business the cops will be falling all over themselves to chase the robbers on your behalf. If you’re an independent business owner… probably not so much.
Our local Walmart has two (2) in-uniform and on the clock state policemen posted there at all times. On our dime – that is, the taxpayers. Meanwhile in the 'hood you can’t even get the cops to show up for a shooting in less than four hours.
It’s definitely about theft. Hard to manage that away.
Walmarts are doing this with things like cosmetics in some areas too, though at least in the one I frequent they have a checkout counter and clerk in the immediate vicinity. Not sure it won’t still frustrate the honest people who have lots of other options.
Almost like if a middle class existed, many ancillary problems wouldn’t exist.
Hey now. Don’t you dare put our oligarch’s wealth in even the slightest bit of jeopardy.
Shoot, mea culpa, I’ll go back to working off my medical debt like a good peasant.
I’d be okay with them forming this takeaway, but I think there were indications that the thieves were generally pretty well-off; it was often organized groups stealing and selling the goods by value rather than individuals in need of those specific things.
Stopped at my local Best Buy the other day. Needed an SSD that was locked behind glass. After attempting to get help for a half hour I ordered one on eBay from the parking lot and drove home. I’ve honestly tried to support brick and mortar where I can but I give up.
When asked for an inventory of items stolen, the CEO said “it’s still printing.”
Well I mean I wasn’t buying disposable razors for $40 anyway, but TBH nobody should be. Even if that wasn’t a profit-driven overprice, it’s still a stupidly wasteful use of titanium.
Now I wonder if the current popularity of beards hasn’t been at least partially due to this policy.
Perhaps somewhat
It’s a catch 22… literally. If they don’t lock it up, half the shit would be gone within days. I’ve seen it. I work part time in merchandising, my CVS and Walgreens stores have people coming in ALL THE TIME, grabbing shit from the shelves and running out. It’s fucking frustrating.
I went to a Walgreens to buy nail clippers since I was nearby and had a bad hangnail.
Had to push a red button to wait for an employee to unlock the cabinet. After 10 minutes, I ran to find a random employee who was stocking and they got me what I needed.
That was the first and last time I ever went to Walgreens.
Yeah, I end up still using their pharmacy because the pharmacist is just a great guy and he takes care of people. But the rest of the store can fuck right off.
If you have good insurance you might not notice this, but drug prices at Walgreens and CVS are significantly more expensive than many other pharmacies, like Walmart, Costco, or HEB. Compare prices on Goodrx.com and see
Truth.
More and more supermarkets are opening up pharmacies to compete. And in my town, private practices are now starting to also have a pharmacy.
I’m not supporting Walmart though.
I assume their entire business model is “Hope the boomers don’t notice we jacked the price up significantly.”
That’s like years ago, like 2016, I went to Walmart for the last time. They closed all the self checkout lanes, but I guess forgot to rehire cashiers. So I waited 30 minutes in line on a random weekday to buy one 50ft extension cord.
In the Soviet Union, the shopper experience wasn’t vastly different. You would stand in different lines to select, pay and collect items, so it was a good idea to bring a chair and a book with you.
I had a similar story. 2019 I went to the Walmart closest to where I live now and they had closed all the registers, and most of the self checks. I waited so long. I have a ton of stores close to me now so I was only going there on recommendation of a friend. “But they’re so cheap!”
Not if your time has value.
Aldi’s. No bullshit, good prices
Wal Marts in Denver have been doing this a lot lately.
And nearly all of the stores and restaurants that I visited while in Denver locked their restrooms and you had to either get a key or a code to enter them. I’m guessing it is related to so called anti theft measures.
I haven’t set foot in a Walmart since Dec 2014 and I don’t miss it at all. My ex used to order groceries from there but now I get Kroger delivery. Weirdly, we don’t even have a Kroger within 150miles but they’re cheaper and faster.
Yeah most of them are like this. That’s why it’s the one place where self checkout was actually an improvement. Because they never had anyone at the fucking registers before that anyway. I try to never go there but at least now I don’t have to wait an eternity if I have to go there.
Fun fact, next time you need something like that on the road just find a Dollar General. There’s one approximately every nine feet (they’re the retailer with the most locations in the US, bar none) and Dollar General don’t give a fuck, therefore nothing is locked up there. Some stuff is behind the checkout counter, but that’s all. Dollar General also doesn’t care about you stealing the nail clippers, nor paying any employees to be present, nor much of anything else as far as I can tell.
Dollar stores are randomly over priced and they manage to treat their employees worse than Walmart.
However, Walmart does treat their customers worse than any retail I can think of which is really weird.
While that is generally true, I will point out that nobody marks shit up to quite the insane degree as the chain drug stores like Walgreens and CVS. If the choice is between a Walgreens and a Dollar General, DG will be cheaper by a country (possibly literal) mile because their markup is is only 500% and not 1000%.
I dunno, let’s pick a random “need it now” commodity item out of a hat. This 4 pack box of light bulbs, $15 at Walgreens and $6.75 at DG despite being in the wrong aspect ratio. A house brand nail clipper to use OP’s example, $2.49 at Walgreens and locked in a case, $1 and just hanging on a peg at DG. Etc., etc.
DG’s main problem is that they chronically and deliberately understaff their stores. It’s literally part of their official management strategy. It also is one of the factors that makes them, perhaps surprisingly, one of the most robbed retail locations in the country.
Oh, most definitely.
I don’t know why anyone would use Walgreens/CVS as their go to for any of the overpriced items in their store. The are both to medication as gas is to the convience stores.
Everything is overpriced but they makes sales because of the convience of picking things up with a prescription.
I have gone to a local electronics store, Best Buy, several times in the last few years because I wanted something immediately only to be stopped at the last moment by a locked shelf and no one around to unlock it. What the fuck are you even supposed to do there? Scream and shout until someone arrives? Quietly stalk an employee until you find your moment to strike? I just fucking leave, I’ll wait for shipping.
Took me 25 minutes to buy a $4 brake light bulb at wal mart one night. After tracking down an employee to track down another employee to meet me by the glass door. I’ll never buy car bulbs there again. That portion of store is dead to me.
Same thing for me with a $10 headlight. Last time I needed one they weren’t locked up, so that was an unpleasant discovery. The employee was super busy with other customers, so I don’t blame him one bit.
I went looking for a new cabin air filter since I had a gift card. The auto employee had literally no clue what I was talking about and just pointed at the wall of air filters with a shrug. Five seconds in an O’Reilly and I was on the way home
I honestly wonder, is it illegal to simply unlock those things, if you have no intention of actually stealing from them? It’s not like they use particularly high security locks. You can probably buy some simple lock raking or cylinder lock tools.
Is it actually violating a law to unlock one of those cases if you don’t have any intention of actually stealing something?
lol that’s way too much effort to give your hard earned money to a shitty company
I avoid Best Buy like the plague, I can’t even remember the last time I went there, maybe 5 years ago? I went to buy a monitor and had to pass like 3 fucking security checks and a receipt checker.
The whole experience was so off putting, I just never went back.
The last thing I tried to buy at Best Buy they simply didn’t have in stock, despite their in store computer system and their web site insisting they had dozens of the damn things. Never mind getting someone to unlock the case; I couldn’t have bought it for any price no matter how badly I wanted it. I gave up. I haven’t been back since.
Microcenter is pretty much the only brick-and-mortar electronics/computers store left that’s worth a damn, which is convenient because they’re also pretty much the only one left, period. Too bad they have barely any locations compared to Best Buy.
A few years back bought something at Best buy and they asked if I needed a receipt or was I ok with just getting it emailed. I said I didn’t need a receipt. Then I was stopped at the door because I didn’t have a receipt, and they had to get the cash register person to vouch for me.
To their credit, for a gift card so I bought something there this past weekend and it was pretty much frictionless. Walked by the guy at the door with the product and no receipt or anything and didn’t signal at me.
Walmart near me on the other hand has an interesting strategy. If I am carrying stuff in a bag, no problem. But if I skipped the bag, they ask to see my receipt. So guess you just need a plastic Walmart bag to shoplift…
You actually don’t need to show them the receipt if you’ve already purchased the goods. It’s your property now and they can get fucked. I do it all the time.
I bought some Beats Solo Buds right after Christmas. I had a trip upcoming and couldn’t wait for shipping so I looked at Best Buy and they said my local store had them. After waiting 20min for them to not find the right model or colour I went across the street to Target and bought them there, which still took at too long.
I order everything usually and my trial back in brick and mortar revealed it’s only gotten worse now.
Technically it would be trespassing, since you’re entering an area you’re not authorized to enter, but no damages, assuming you don’t like break the lock or something.
You’re not likely to get sued for nominal damages (one dollar) for a technical trespass. They might ask you to leave. If you have a key and nobody is around, go for it. The keys are generic.
You can actually just buy whatever keys you need online. When I worked in retail it was a major issue. Groups of thieves would come in and hand off the key to multiple people so each could go grab stuff from different areas.
Is it actually violating a law to unlock one of those cases if you don’t have any intention of actually stealing something?
It probably is.
My state has a definition in its shoplifting statute that includes tampering with packaging, removing tags, or defeating security devices even if the product does not leave the store. I’m sure others do as well. Technically they could probably bust you even if the very next thing you did was take the thing to the checkout and pay for it. Not worth it, in my opinion. Just buy from someone who doesn’t pull that shit and let that good old fashioned Free Market Economy these chucklefucks love so much take care of it.
A simple solution would be a buzzer system that calls an employee to your aisle. But if an employee has the option of meeting shelf stocking or some other target, or spending time helping a customer, which isn’t as easily tracked and doesn’t look as good on a chart when bosses look at it, which do you think that they’ll choose?
My local petrol station has the same person stocking shelves as serving customers a lot of the time, it creates a right nightmare situation.
My walmart has buzzers but they ignore them.
Despite all the effort spent prosecuting it, there’s virtually no concrete evidence that retail theft — organized or otherwise — is on the rise. Data on retail theft provided to law enforcement and lawmakers comes exclusively from corporate retailers, or organizations funded by them, and is not independently vetted. Last year, the National Retail Federation was forced to retract its claim that organized retail theft cost its members “nearly half” of the $94.5 billion in lost inventory in 2021. One researcher put the actual figure closer to 5%.
Just making shit up so they have something to point to when the investors wonder why number didn’t go up enough.
Exactly - you see the little lock thing on the display and you’re like, aww shit I have to go find an employee, nevermind.
edit: Urban Anarchy idea - get some of those locks and randomly stick them on display cases!
My Walmart has a little button to summon an employee. The last time (as in, both the most recent time and the final time) I went there at night to try getting diaper rash cream for my baby I pressed the button, and waited.
And waited.
Pressed the button again.
And waited.
Sunk cost fallacy. I’ve already waited so long, what if as soon as I walk away to find an employee somebody shows up?
After 10 minutes I went to find an employee stocking the shelves and told them what I needed. Their answer was “yeah, we saw you buzzed but we don’t know who has the key. If we find out we’ll have them open it for you.”
So I left .
I hate Walmart so much.
Yeah but “These photos of Walmart customers will make you look twice!”
You guys know this article is about Walgreens, right?
It’s about sales losses due to keeping items behind locks at Walgreens. The person you replied to gave an anecdote of the identical problem at another retailer, in order to emphasize that this is a clear problem for both retailers and customers. It hardly seems irrelevant to the conversation?
You know how in discussions people mention related things? This is one of those times, Sheldon.
“I don’t want to bother them, they’re busy”
And underpaid
And understaffed
And they’re people. Ever since automatic checkout, I can get out there without talking to a single soul.
Every single time I see it, I add it to my Amazon cart. It’s not great.
Well yeah… if you’ve got everything locked up you need to find one of the few staff left who is under far too much pressure to deal with customers.
It’s the fucking worst. Say I need a toothbrush, new mascara, and cough syrup. That’s gonna be at least 10 minutes waiting for the one overworked staff member to unlock the case at each of them.
A toothbrush? In the U.K. they’re like 2 quid …we’re actually gonna end up with people using Amazon for their shop for everything. It won’t end up with your weekly shopping trip being from the same place either.
They’re super cheap here too, but Walgreens at almost every location I’ve been to locks up absolutely everything
To be fair Walgreens happily marks a $1 brush up to $5
Preventing people from stealing toothbrushes is just evil. Nobody chooses to be in a situation where they even think about stealing a freaking toothbrush.
To be fair ….i live in a small town. I don’t tend to go other places and buy tooth brushes, but at the same time only expensive items are locked up.
Deodorant is the thing here
Also for some reason laundry detergent? Like, just get purex and be done with it, like $10 for a year supply.
Name brand laundry detergent has a decent resale price on the street. Tide was the first thing I noticed getting locked up at Family Dollar back in the 10s.
I found a wholesaler that sells a 5gal bucket of laundry detergent for $45, lasts probably 6 months.
We’re a small household with minimal laundry so 5 gallons is more like a 10 year supply for us… I’m here for it : D
From what I understand laundry detergent (especially Tide) is used as a black market currency because the value is relatively stable and everyone needs it eventually.
I read a few years ago that was because Tide was fairly high end as far as laundry detergents go.
That was pre-Tide pods too, so those must be like Louis Vuitton type shit these days.
This is more urban legend that fun fact.
Must not have spread here yet. Last week i bought DayQuil, cough drops, pseudoephedrine. Nothing was locked up. The pseudoephedrine was behind the pharmacy counter
article is paywalled. I found a similar article with no paywall: https://www.cbsnews.com/boston/news/walgreens-shoplifting-retailer-james-kehoe/
paywalled
Headline is right.
'When you lock things up…you don’t sell as many of them’The irony…
I mean when you give things away you don’t sell as many of them either.
Selling stuff works best in an environment where the goods aren’t free but the people are.
People make money at roadside food stands based on the honor system. Anyone who just thinks “that’s naive” doesn’t know what they’re missing. A trust-based society that keeps accounts is the best society.
Reminder, using the reader function in Firefox skips almost all pay walls.
More and more sites are only partially loading the reader function info so that it cuts out at the same place as the preview part.
Used to be very helpful though!
I’ve noticed some will truncate if you scroll before entering reader mode, can you provide an example that didn’t work?
Archive copy of the Fortune article: https://archive.is/PoraP
Thank you! It wasn’t paywalled on my end and I wonder if it activates on traffic.
How interesting, and annoying. Thank you for the post regardless.
