SAN FRANCISCO —
Walgreens mentioned Tuesday that it’ll shut 5 extra shops in San Francisco subsequent month due to organized retail theft in one other blow to a metropolis that has earned an embarrassing repute for widespread and brazen shoplifting.
The shops will shut down subsequent month, SFGATE reported. It mentioned Walgreens has closed no less than 10 shops within the metropolis for the reason that begin of 2019.
“Retail theft throughout our San Francisco shops has continued to extend previously few months to 5 occasions our chain common” regardless of massive will increase in safety, Walgreens spokesperson Phil Caruso mentioned.
San Francisco Supervisor Ahsha Safai mentioned he was devastated by the lack of a Mission Avenue retailer that “has been a staple for seniors, households and youngsters for many years.”
“It is a unhappy day for San Francisco,” Safai informed SFGATE. “We won’t proceed to let these anchor establishments shut that so many individuals depend on.”
Final yr, Walgreens closed one retailer the place the chain mentioned it was dropping US$1,000 a day to thefts.
Frustration and worry over thefts have been fueled by extensively circulating pictures of shoplifting caught on video. This summer season, shoplifters in masks carrying armfuls of designer purses sprinted from a downtown Neiman Marcus division retailer and into getaway automobiles.
In June, a masked man was caught on video at a Walgreens, stuffing objects right into a trash bag earlier than cruising out of the shop on a bicycle. A suspect was arrested in that theft.
Final month, Mayor London Breed and Police Chief Invoice Scott introduced that they are going to dedicate extra police, beef up coordination and make it simpler to report shoplifters.
The technique goals to counter thieving that has added to the liberal metropolis’s repute as being mushy on crime.
“We care about legal justice reform. We care about second possibilities. We care about ensuring that individuals are not wrongly accused,” Breed in asserting the brand new measures. “However do not take our kindness for weak point, our compassion for weak point.”
