Kathianne
09-26-2023, 10:50 PM
First we have Gates really putting a rein on climate crisis. He's not a denier, but is saying the time for extremism is not now and hasn't been and won't be in foreseeable future.
Now businesses, even the woke, are starting to get real about what the riots have done to lawlessness and they are truly awakening that it is not sustainable:
https://hotair.com/john-s-2/2023/09/26/target-will-close-nine-stores-in-san-francisco-oakland-portland-and-seattle-citing-retail-theft-n580709
Target will close nine stores in San Francisco, Oakland, Portland and Seattle citing retail theftJOHN SEXTON 10:40 PM on September 26, 2023
Target will close nine stores in San Francisco, Oakland, Portland and Seattle citing retail theft
AP Photo/George Walker IV, File
Karen just wrote about the continued shut down of CVS stores across the country. As she explained, those closures of up to 900 stores seem to be connected to a general downturn in business stemming from the pandemic. At least that’s what they are saying. But this afternoon word is out that Target will also be closing nine stores in areas hard hit by retail theft. The company is specifically citing theft as the reason for the closures.
Target is closing nine stores in major cities across four states, claiming theft and organized retail crime have made the environment unsafe for staff and customers – and unsustainable for business…
“We cannot continue operating these stores because theft and organized retail crime are threatening the safety of our team and guests, and contributing to unsustainable business performance,” Target said in a statement. “We know that our stores serve an important role in their communities, but we can only be successful if the working and shopping environment is safe for all.”…
The stores Target plans to close will shut their doors on October 21. The stores include the East Harlem location in New York City, two locations in Seattle, three locations in Portland, and three locations in San Francisco and Oakland…
“Target, Kroger and Costco are the best in the country when it comes to investments in store security. So when Target calls out crime and says it’s closing stores because of it, it’s a blow to the community,” said Burt Flickinger, retail expert and managing director of retail consultancy Strategic Resource Group.
CNN Business cites “skeptics” who say Target hasn’t proved retail theft is the reason the stores are closing. But it’s not a coincidence that Target is closing stores in the same areas where retail theft is thriving, i.e. San Francisco, Oakland, Portland, Seattle and New York City.
Just today the National Retail Federation released the results of its latest survey showing theft was indeed up last year compared to 2021:
“Retailers are seeing unprecedented levels of theft coupled with rampant crime in their stores, and the situation is only becoming more dire,” David Johnston, NRF’s vice president for asset protection and retail operations, said in a statement.
The annual survey by the trade group collected insights from 177 retail brands across 28 different retail sectors — including apparel, jewelry, grocery, and department stores — and accounted for more than 97,000 retail locations and $1.6 trillion in annual retail sales.
Shrink — a measurement of lost inventory — for total retail sales in 2022 reached $112.1 billion, up from $93.9 billion in losses in 2021, according to the survey.
It’s worth noting that when retail sales go up, as they did in 2022, shrink also tends to rise. The average shrink rate in the 2022 fiscal year was 1.6%, up from 1.4% the year before. The latest figure is in line with shrink rates from 2019 and 2020.
So if shrink was the same percentage in 2022 as it was in 2019, why are retailers complaining? Because managers and workers are seeing more violence associated with it now than previously:
Although the rate of shrink remains similar to what it was in 2019 and 2020, some retailers are saying they find theft a greater cause for concern. This year, two-thirds of respondents said they were seeing even more violence and aggression from those participating in organized retail crime.
In May, Michael Fiddelke, Target’s chief financial officer, said that if the shrink trend continued, the retail chain would lose $500 million in profit. The company has also been spending more on security, including using third-party guard services.
Some unions that represent retail workers have said store workers have faced more instances of unruly customers and various acts of crime, including assaults, on the job since the start of the pandemic.
What goes unspoken in all of these stories is that there is opposition to what these retailers (not just Target) are saying for a couple of reasons that seem transparently political. First, it plays into an ongoing argument on the right that there is a safety and livability problem in blue cities, especially those on the west coast. Progressives who inhabit these cities would rather discount that than admit it. Second, we are in the midst of a presidential campaign in which the Democrat is trying to run on “Bidenomics.” Obviously closing stores and tales of retail theft don’t jibe well with that argument.
Ultimately, the truth is what it is and I think there’s more than enough evidence from Portland, Seattle, Oakland and especially San Francisco that retail theft is a real problem and not a convenient invention.
https://hotair.com/karen-townsend/2023/09/26/major-drug-store-chain-to-close-900-stores-by-end-of-2024-n580617
Major drug store chain to close 900 stores by end of 2024KAREN TOWNSEND 7:21 PM on September 26, 2023
Major drug store chain to close 900 stores by end of 2024
(AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis, File)
CVS plans to close 900 stores by the end of 2024, which is 10 percent of all its stores. Shoppers have moved to online shopping and the company is making adjustments.
The pandemic taught shoppers about the wonders of online shopping, if they were not already shopping that way. Then when the pandemic eased up and more shoppers left their homes to go to brick and mortar stores, the epidemic of shoplifting in major cities began. Who wants to shop in all that chaos? Who feels safe in a store where lawlessness is allowed to flourish? As long as retailers let the thieves come in and take what they want with impunity, shoppers will have to keep an eye out for potential danger. No thanks.
So, CVS is making some drastic reforms. It’s being described as a total retail overhaul.
CVS claims that ‘local market dynamics, population shifts, and a community’s store density’ are some of the ffactors when deciding which stores to close. Many customers get their prescriptions filled online, receive personal care items through store curbside pickup, and do doctor visits through telehealth. Changes are needed to keep up with its customers.
A spokesman said: ‘Maintaining access to pharmacy services in the communities we serve is an important factor we consider when making store closure decisions.
‘Other factors include local market dynamics, population shifts, a community’s store density, and ensuring there are other geographic access points to meet the needs of the community.’
The CVS CEO made a brief statement when the announcement was released.
CEO Karen Lynch said: ‘Our retail stores are fundamental to our strategy and who we are as a company.
‘We remain focused on the competitive advantage provided by our presence in thousands of communities across the country, which complements our rapidly expanding digital presence.’
Store closings began in November 2021 in order to focus on online growth. Physical locations were expected to close from 2022 as remaining stores transitioned to “health-care destinations” that offer shots and testing.
Three hundred stores closed in 2022. Another 300 stores will close this year and then 300 more will close in 2024.
Times are changing. Pharmacies make money from the health care aspect in conjunction with insurance companies.
The company confirmed that it is pushing to turn more of its stores into healthcare destinations in an attempt to drum up more claims for its insurance business.
It is also working to expand the HealthHub business, despite investigators finding in June that the company failed to provide proper interpretation services for individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing during their appointments with medical staff.
The Department of Justice and CVS came to a settlement agreement that requires the company to change its policies.
Stores continue to take a hit from losses created by shoplifting. Products, including personal care items, are locked away behind plexiglass and require the assistance of store clerks to buy toothpaste or deodorant. It’s crazy. It looks like the company is trying to keep the employees it has as the closing happen by giving them an option to continue working for CVS.
Stores catch shoplifters roughly 2 percent of the time, with the average shoplifter being arrested once out of every 100 incidents.
CVS declined to share the specific details of stores that would shutter, but in March closed locations in Des Moines, Iowa, Houston, Missouri, and Tallahassee.
The company acknowledged ‘many factors’ go into the decision to close a store, adding that current employees would have the option to continue working for CVS.
Rival pharmacies Rite Aid and Walgreens are also closing stores. Pandemic mandates destroyed our way of life. These kind of stories remind us how we used to live.
What it looks like:
https://www.battleswarmblog.com/?p=55953
Now businesses, even the woke, are starting to get real about what the riots have done to lawlessness and they are truly awakening that it is not sustainable:
https://hotair.com/john-s-2/2023/09/26/target-will-close-nine-stores-in-san-francisco-oakland-portland-and-seattle-citing-retail-theft-n580709
Target will close nine stores in San Francisco, Oakland, Portland and Seattle citing retail theftJOHN SEXTON 10:40 PM on September 26, 2023
Target will close nine stores in San Francisco, Oakland, Portland and Seattle citing retail theft
AP Photo/George Walker IV, File
Karen just wrote about the continued shut down of CVS stores across the country. As she explained, those closures of up to 900 stores seem to be connected to a general downturn in business stemming from the pandemic. At least that’s what they are saying. But this afternoon word is out that Target will also be closing nine stores in areas hard hit by retail theft. The company is specifically citing theft as the reason for the closures.
Target is closing nine stores in major cities across four states, claiming theft and organized retail crime have made the environment unsafe for staff and customers – and unsustainable for business…
“We cannot continue operating these stores because theft and organized retail crime are threatening the safety of our team and guests, and contributing to unsustainable business performance,” Target said in a statement. “We know that our stores serve an important role in their communities, but we can only be successful if the working and shopping environment is safe for all.”…
The stores Target plans to close will shut their doors on October 21. The stores include the East Harlem location in New York City, two locations in Seattle, three locations in Portland, and three locations in San Francisco and Oakland…
“Target, Kroger and Costco are the best in the country when it comes to investments in store security. So when Target calls out crime and says it’s closing stores because of it, it’s a blow to the community,” said Burt Flickinger, retail expert and managing director of retail consultancy Strategic Resource Group.
CNN Business cites “skeptics” who say Target hasn’t proved retail theft is the reason the stores are closing. But it’s not a coincidence that Target is closing stores in the same areas where retail theft is thriving, i.e. San Francisco, Oakland, Portland, Seattle and New York City.
Just today the National Retail Federation released the results of its latest survey showing theft was indeed up last year compared to 2021:
“Retailers are seeing unprecedented levels of theft coupled with rampant crime in their stores, and the situation is only becoming more dire,” David Johnston, NRF’s vice president for asset protection and retail operations, said in a statement.
The annual survey by the trade group collected insights from 177 retail brands across 28 different retail sectors — including apparel, jewelry, grocery, and department stores — and accounted for more than 97,000 retail locations and $1.6 trillion in annual retail sales.
Shrink — a measurement of lost inventory — for total retail sales in 2022 reached $112.1 billion, up from $93.9 billion in losses in 2021, according to the survey.
It’s worth noting that when retail sales go up, as they did in 2022, shrink also tends to rise. The average shrink rate in the 2022 fiscal year was 1.6%, up from 1.4% the year before. The latest figure is in line with shrink rates from 2019 and 2020.
So if shrink was the same percentage in 2022 as it was in 2019, why are retailers complaining? Because managers and workers are seeing more violence associated with it now than previously:
Although the rate of shrink remains similar to what it was in 2019 and 2020, some retailers are saying they find theft a greater cause for concern. This year, two-thirds of respondents said they were seeing even more violence and aggression from those participating in organized retail crime.
In May, Michael Fiddelke, Target’s chief financial officer, said that if the shrink trend continued, the retail chain would lose $500 million in profit. The company has also been spending more on security, including using third-party guard services.
Some unions that represent retail workers have said store workers have faced more instances of unruly customers and various acts of crime, including assaults, on the job since the start of the pandemic.
What goes unspoken in all of these stories is that there is opposition to what these retailers (not just Target) are saying for a couple of reasons that seem transparently political. First, it plays into an ongoing argument on the right that there is a safety and livability problem in blue cities, especially those on the west coast. Progressives who inhabit these cities would rather discount that than admit it. Second, we are in the midst of a presidential campaign in which the Democrat is trying to run on “Bidenomics.” Obviously closing stores and tales of retail theft don’t jibe well with that argument.
Ultimately, the truth is what it is and I think there’s more than enough evidence from Portland, Seattle, Oakland and especially San Francisco that retail theft is a real problem and not a convenient invention.
https://hotair.com/karen-townsend/2023/09/26/major-drug-store-chain-to-close-900-stores-by-end-of-2024-n580617
Major drug store chain to close 900 stores by end of 2024KAREN TOWNSEND 7:21 PM on September 26, 2023
Major drug store chain to close 900 stores by end of 2024
(AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis, File)
CVS plans to close 900 stores by the end of 2024, which is 10 percent of all its stores. Shoppers have moved to online shopping and the company is making adjustments.
The pandemic taught shoppers about the wonders of online shopping, if they were not already shopping that way. Then when the pandemic eased up and more shoppers left their homes to go to brick and mortar stores, the epidemic of shoplifting in major cities began. Who wants to shop in all that chaos? Who feels safe in a store where lawlessness is allowed to flourish? As long as retailers let the thieves come in and take what they want with impunity, shoppers will have to keep an eye out for potential danger. No thanks.
So, CVS is making some drastic reforms. It’s being described as a total retail overhaul.
CVS claims that ‘local market dynamics, population shifts, and a community’s store density’ are some of the ffactors when deciding which stores to close. Many customers get their prescriptions filled online, receive personal care items through store curbside pickup, and do doctor visits through telehealth. Changes are needed to keep up with its customers.
A spokesman said: ‘Maintaining access to pharmacy services in the communities we serve is an important factor we consider when making store closure decisions.
‘Other factors include local market dynamics, population shifts, a community’s store density, and ensuring there are other geographic access points to meet the needs of the community.’
The CVS CEO made a brief statement when the announcement was released.
CEO Karen Lynch said: ‘Our retail stores are fundamental to our strategy and who we are as a company.
‘We remain focused on the competitive advantage provided by our presence in thousands of communities across the country, which complements our rapidly expanding digital presence.’
Store closings began in November 2021 in order to focus on online growth. Physical locations were expected to close from 2022 as remaining stores transitioned to “health-care destinations” that offer shots and testing.
Three hundred stores closed in 2022. Another 300 stores will close this year and then 300 more will close in 2024.
Times are changing. Pharmacies make money from the health care aspect in conjunction with insurance companies.
The company confirmed that it is pushing to turn more of its stores into healthcare destinations in an attempt to drum up more claims for its insurance business.
It is also working to expand the HealthHub business, despite investigators finding in June that the company failed to provide proper interpretation services for individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing during their appointments with medical staff.
The Department of Justice and CVS came to a settlement agreement that requires the company to change its policies.
Stores continue to take a hit from losses created by shoplifting. Products, including personal care items, are locked away behind plexiglass and require the assistance of store clerks to buy toothpaste or deodorant. It’s crazy. It looks like the company is trying to keep the employees it has as the closing happen by giving them an option to continue working for CVS.
Stores catch shoplifters roughly 2 percent of the time, with the average shoplifter being arrested once out of every 100 incidents.
CVS declined to share the specific details of stores that would shutter, but in March closed locations in Des Moines, Iowa, Houston, Missouri, and Tallahassee.
The company acknowledged ‘many factors’ go into the decision to close a store, adding that current employees would have the option to continue working for CVS.
Rival pharmacies Rite Aid and Walgreens are also closing stores. Pandemic mandates destroyed our way of life. These kind of stories remind us how we used to live.
What it looks like:
https://www.battleswarmblog.com/?p=55953