{"id":11438,"date":"2023-05-20T13:29:02","date_gmt":"2023-05-20T17:29:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/investing\/retailers-say-theft-cost-nearly-100-billion-last-year-but-are-stores-using-crime-stats-to-cover-up-other-problems\/"},"modified":"2023-05-20T13:29:03","modified_gmt":"2023-05-20T17:29:03","slug":"retailers-say-theft-cost-nearly-100-billion-last-year-but-are-stores-using-crime-stats-to-cover-up-other-problems","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/?p=11438","title":{"rendered":"Retailers say theft cost nearly $100 billion last year. But are stores using crime stats to cover up other problems?"},"content":{"rendered":"

When REI announced plans in April to close one of its best-performing stores, a location in downtown Portland, Ore., the sporting-goods retailer became the latest to cite shoplifting and higher crime as among the main reasons.<\/p>\n

\n

The company told MarketWatch that it spent more than $800,000 on extra security through last year, and over the last two years had replaced windows with security glass, installed better lighting and established 24\/7 security \u2014 in the store when it was open and perimeter patrols when closed. Still, a representative said, the store had 10 burglaries in 2022, and a car slammed through a store entrance on Black Friday. Shoplifting and crime weren\u2019t the only issues: The company also said that it had outgrown the store\u2019s constrained layout. <\/p>\n

However, some employees also said that none of those issues were new, and wondered whether there were unspoken reasons. <\/p>\n

By one former employee\u2019s account, workers had been asking for more store space for years, amid difficulties handling bikes and boxes in a tighter space, and said theft wasn\u2019t exactly rare. And some employees, for this story and others, have noted that efforts to unionize at the store had gained momentum not long before the announcement of the planned closure, set for early next year. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe reasons they were stating for closing just felt really convenient, because those cited problems have been problems for years,\u201d said Chesley Lindsey, a former employee who said she was one of the bigger advocates for unionization at the store. <\/p>\n

Megan Behrbaum, the REI representative, said \u201cit is not accurate to connect this store\u2019s closure to union activity.\u201d And she said the store had been dealing with \u201cunsuccessful lease renewal negotiations with our landlord\u201d and that the investments in security weren\u2019t sustainable longer-term. <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n Americans shoplift $13 billion in merchandise every year. Here\u2019s a look at the items they steal most often. Photo: Shutterstock
\n <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

But in shutting the Portland location down, REI joined a handful of other big chains closing stores due to what they say is surging crime and theft. Taken together, those closures have raised questions about the factors behind the closures, and the ways crime can be overplayed or underreported amid an avalanche of headlines over the past two years about rampant heists and brazen criminal activity at retailers.<\/p>\n

Industry groups have said the issue has cost retailers tens of billions of dollars, with some analysts blaming stretched police departments and what they say are lax crime policies. However, other analysts say crime data is imperfect and risks distorting the response from policymakers, and point to pandemic disruptions to the way people work and shop. <\/p>\n

Some executives have walked back complaints about the matter. Some chains have continued to open stores in areas where they once shuttered locations. And a smaller number of people and stores, in some cases, can lead to outsized statistics.<\/p>\n

Retailers like Starbucks Corp.
\n SBUX,
\n -1.48%<\/bg-quote>
\n and Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc.
\n WBA,
\n -0.57%<\/bg-quote>
\n have shuttered locations in larger cities, citing theft, dangers to employees, drug use in restrooms, an acute homelessness crisis and what executives have described as a surge in shoplifting. Target Corp.\u2019s
\n TGT,
\n -1.23%<\/bg-quote>
\n chief executive said Wednesday morning that his company expects to lose $500 million more this year than last due to inventory \u201cshrinkage,\u201d much of which he blamed on theft.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe unfortunate fact is violent incidents are increasing at our stores and across the entire retail industry and when products are stolen, simply put, they are no longer available for our guests who depend on them,\u201d Target Chief Executive Brian Cornell said during the company\u2019s earnings call on Wednesday. \u201cAnd left unchecked, theft and organized retail crime degrade the communities we call home.\u201d<\/p>\n

More stores nationwide have locked products behind protective glass, at times irritating shoppers. More store aisles have been armed with monitors, and more items tagged with security sensors. Home Depot Inc.
\n HD,
\n -1.45%<\/bg-quote>
\n began selling power drills that don\u2019t work unless a cashier activates them.<\/p>\n

Homegrown Oregon athletic-gear giant Nike Inc.
\n NKE,
\n -3.46%<\/bg-quote>
\n closed a store in Portland, citing shoplifting as a reason, and has asked for a bigger security presence there, according to OregonLive. Walmart Inc.
\n WMT,
\n -1.03%<\/bg-quote>
\n also closed two stores in the area. It told the news outlet that the stores were struggling financially. But it added that there was \u201cno single cause for why a store closes.\u201d <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

\n \u201c<\/span> \u2018I\u2019ve worked with crime data for long enough to know that we just don\u2019t have data granular enough to know for sure if any of those categories are increasing dramatically.\u2019 \u201d<\/span>\n <\/p>\n


\n \u2014 Laura Bennett, director, Center for Just Journalism <\/span>
\n <\/small><\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

Laura Bennett, the director of the Center for Just Journalism who has a background in data and policy analysis for criminal justice issues, said the stories on organized theft and smash-and-grab robberies project a far greater sense of certainty about crime than the numbers suggest.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve worked with crime data for long enough to know that we just don\u2019t have data granular enough to know for sure if any of those categories are increasing dramatically,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n

Industry groups have sounded the alarm about organized retail theft, or stealing goods with the intent of reselling them. But even some of their own statistics on the issue show how difficult it can be to prove that point. <\/p>\n

Last year, a survey from the National Retail Federation, an industry group, found that so-called \u201cshrink\u201d \u2014 or losses attributed to theft, fraud or employee error \u2014 amounted to $94.5 billion in losses in 2021. That was up from $90.8 billion in 2020. And the survey found that retailers reported a 26.5% increase in organized retail crime, on average. <\/p>\n

However, the overall shrink rate during that year \u2014 1.4% \u2014 was similar to the previous five years, with the gross gains attributed to overall sales increases. The survey was conducted online \u201camong senior loss prevention and security executives in the retail industry.\u201d<\/p>\n

Research from Bennett\u2019s own organization has found that in San Francisco \u2014 where coverage of theft has been aggressive, and where Nordstrom Inc.
\n JWN,
\n -3.92%<\/bg-quote>
\n recently said it would close both its downtown stores \u2014 found that reported commercial robberies were on track to fall to their lowest levels in five years by the end of 2022. Reported commercial burglaries, it found, jumped more than 70% in 2020, started falling in 2021, and were set to come back to pre-pandemic levels last year. <\/p>\n

In Los Angeles, LAPD data showed that reported property crimes ticked 4.2% higher in 2021 and 11% higher for part of 2022, according to the organization\u2019s research. Those rates were still far below those in the 1990s. <\/p>\n

Other looks at police department data for Los Angeles, San Francisco and Portland offer a mixed bag. <\/p>\n

An analysis of police data by the nonprofit journalism group Crosstown LA found that robberies overall in Los Angeles for the first three months of this year fell 19% from the same period last year, and were lower than the first three months of 2019. Burglaries also edged lower, when compared to those time periods. Robberies in the city in 2022 rose year-over-year but were still lower than in 2019, the group said. <\/p>\n

In San Francisco, reported robberies overall rose for the first four months of this year, but reported burglaries and larcenies fell, according to police data. Reported burglaries also fell last year, while robberies and larceny rose. And in 2021, robberies and burglaries fell from the prior year. In Portland, police data show a 14% year-over-year jump in reported robberies and a 17% increase in burglaries in 2022, although robberies crept slightly lower and burglaries slightly higher through the first fourth months of this year compared to that period in 2022. <\/p>\n

But Bennett also said that something as simple as a store deciding to begin reporting theft to police can cause the stats to balloon. <\/p>\n

\u201cThat can create a massive swing in what we see in the data, but nothing actually changed in the real world,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

\n \u201c<\/span> \u2018Retailers feel like prosecutors and law enforcement won\u2019t do anything. Prosecutors and law enforcement often feel that retailers won\u2019t show for court or supply the evidence that\u2019s needed. So I see a lot of finger-pointing.\u2019 \u201d<\/span>\n <\/p>\n


\n \u2014 Karl Langhorst, adjunct instructor, University of Cincinnati <\/span>
\n <\/small><\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

Still, Karl Langhorst, an adjunct instructor at the University of Cincinnati\u2019s school of criminal justice who has worked with retailers on loss prevention, said he\u2019s seen an increase in theft at stores and more acute employee anxiety over theft. <\/p>\n

He also said theft often goes unreported at retailers for a few reasons. Insurance, for one, generally doesn\u2019t cover shoplifting or organized retail theft. He also said that retailers \u2014 where workers might be unfamiliar with the court system or might not have enough evidence \u2014 and law enforcement don\u2019t always work with each other sufficiently.<\/p>\n

\u201cRetailers feel like prosecutors and law enforcement won\u2019t do anything,\u201d he said. \u201cProsecutors and law enforcement often feel that retailers won\u2019t show for court or supply the evidence that\u2019s needed. So I see a lot of finger-pointing.\u201d <\/p>\n

The conversation surrounding crime and retail theft in cities follows pandemic restrictions that led to the rise of hybrid work and more online shopping, in turn reshaping population and commercial hubs in cities. And it follows a surge in prices that have strained consumers. Smartphone video technology and social media have made it easier for any single shoplifting incident to go viral. <\/p>\n

Criminal-justice reform advocates say that industry-group surveys tend to only sample a few dozen retailers, anonymously, and say that data isn\u2019t available for third-party review. Executives at large retailers, nonetheless, have said the increase has been dramatic.<\/p>\n

Cornell, Target\u2019s CEO, has made shoplifting a regular focus. In November, he said the chain had \u201cseen a\u00a0significant\u00a0increase in\u00a0theft\u00a0and organized retail crime across our business.\u201d At that time, Target\u2019s chief financial officer, Michael Fiddelke, said that shrink had reduced its year-to-date gross margin by more than\u00a0$400\u00a0million compared to the prior year, and said he expected it would lower 2022 gross margins by more than $600 million. <\/p>\n

Target\u2019s 2022 sales rose 3% to $109 billion, with gross margin of 23.6%. That was down from 28.3% during the prior year due to steeper markdowns, higher shipping costs and greater inventory shrink. Walmart
\n WMT,
\n -1.03%<\/bg-quote>
\n CEO Doug McMillon, in December, told CNBC that prices could rise and stores could close if theft weren\u2019t addressed. <\/p>\n

Still, Walgreens, in January, walked back its earlier complaints about theft, and said shrink had fallen. <\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe\u00a0we\u00a0cried\u00a0too\u00a0much\u00a0last\u00a0year\u00a0when\u00a0we\u00a0were\u00a0hitting\u00a0numbers that were\u00a03.5%\u00a0of\u00a0sales,\u201d Walgreens
\n WBA,
\n -0.57%<\/bg-quote>
\n Chief Financial Officer James Kehoe said of the company\u2019s shrink levels in January. \u201cWe\u2019re down in the lower twos, call it the mid-2.5%, 2.6% kind of range now. And we\u2019re stabilized.\u201d <\/p>\n

He added that the security companies the chain had been using were \u201clargely ineffective,\u201d and the company was using more law enforcement personnel. <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

\n \u201c<\/span> \u2018Maybe we cried too much last year when we were hitting numbers that were 3.5% of sales.\u2019 \u201d<\/span>\n <\/p>\n


\n \u2014 James Kehoe, chief financial officer, Walgreens <\/span>
\n <\/small><\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

Other data show that a small number of people and stores can drive statistics. In New York, police said, nearly a third of the city\u2019s arrests for shoplifting in 2022 involved only 327 people, according to the New York Times. That report also said that 18 department stores and seven pharmacy-chain locations comprised 20% of complaints. <\/p>\n

Others suspect some retail executives could be overplaying crime to pressure lawmakers for more security, and using the issue as cover to pull out of communities \u2014 some where access to essentials is limited \u2014 where store sales are coming up short. And outside of REI, some labor activists have suspected other store closures were actually acts of retaliation. <\/p>\n

As more employees at Starbucks coffee shops began voting to form unions last year, the chain last summer said it would close a handful of its more than 15,000 stores, mainly in larger cities, due to safety and security issues. But some union members said the moves were an attempt at union-busting. Starbucks, which has opened new shops in some of those cities, has vehemently denied those allegations. <\/p>\n

Pew Research has found that \u201cAmericans tend to believe crime is up, even when the data shows it is down.\u201d But Bennett said that the headlines are helping to shape policy debates over ways to crack down more harshly on theft, raising questions about those policies\u2019 effectiveness and how much they might worsen racial disparity. She also said that theft takes more forms than what usually gets discussed.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe types of property crime that we pay the most attention to as a country are really narrow,\u201d Bennett said. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe look at burglary. We look at particular types of theft of goods. We look at car theft,\u201d she continued. \u201cWe do not look at a whole bunch of other types of theft, like minimum wage violations and overtime violations that are happening literally in the same store.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

Read the full article here<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When REI announced plans in April to close one of its best-performing stores, a location in downtown Portland, Ore., the sporting-goods retailer became the latest to cite shoplifting and higher crime as among the main reasons. The company told MarketWatch that it spent more than $800,000 on extra security through last year, and over the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11439,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"video","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[239],"tags":[83],"class_list":["post-11438","post","type-post","status-publish","format-video","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-investing","tag-featured","post_format-post-format-video"],"yoast_head":"\nRetailers say theft cost nearly $100 billion last year. 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