Another Flash Mob Robs Store
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It's becoming a real problem. Many stores are reporting that their profits are down, simply because of
retail theftlooting.Besides Dollar Tree, as you linked, Dick's Sporting Goods.
https://www.cnn.com/2023/08/22/business/dicks-retail-theft/index.html
The sporting goods and athletic clothing seller reported second-quarter results Tuesday morning that included a 23% drop in profit, despite sales that rose 3.6% in the period. Shares of Dick’s (DKS) plunged nearly 24% Tuesday.
The company blamed shrink, the industry term for theft and damaged inventory, for its surprisingly poor earnings. Although other national retailers have also warned investors about growing theft, Dick’s is among the first to blame its lackluster quarterly financial report primarily on theft.
“Our [second-quarter] profitability was short of our expectations due in large part to the impact of elevated inventory shrink, an increasingly serious issue impacting many retailers,” CEO Lauren Hobart said in a statement. Retail “shrink” is a term that refers to merchandise that goes missing due to theft, fraud, damage, accounting errors or other reasons.
And it's getting serious:
Organized retail crime, the more insidious type of store theft involving groups of people targeting stores that carry higher-value items like electronics, sporting goods, designer handbags and designer clothing, in particular has retailers rattled. Retail crime experts say the groups then resell the merchandise in secondary marketplaces, such as eBay, OfferUp and Facebook Marketplace or even back into the legitimate supply chain.
Shopping malls and high-end stores in large cities, including Los Angeles, Chicago and New York have suffered a spate of dangerous smash-and-grab attacks over the last year in which perpetrators have used sledgehammers and other equipment to break into stores and make off with several thousand dollars in merchandise.
Just last week, a “mob of criminals” stole more than $300,000 worth of merchandise from the Westfield Topanga Shopping Center in Los Angeles on a Saturday afternoon, police said.
More than 30 people entered a Nordstrom store at once and grabbed merchandise from displays near the entrance shortly after 4 p.m. before fleeing, police said.
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https://www.gov.ca.gov/2023/09/12/ort-grants/
California has launched an offensive against the “brazen” criminals causing chaos in the state’s retail sector — injecting $267,118,293 into local law enforcement agencies to help them crack down on smash-and-grab robberies.
The funding will be split between 55 local law enforcement agencies across the state — with 41 sheriffs’ and police departments, along with one probation department, being awarded up to $23,663,194 each. Thirteen district attorney offices will also each receive up to $2,050,000 to prevent and investigate organized retail crime and arrest and prosecute more suspects.
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Yesterday (I believe) was the first day of "no cash bail" in Illinois, by the way.
"Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08
The saying, "Lite is just one damn thing after another," is a gross understatement. The damn things overlap.
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@George-K said in Another Flash Mob Robs Store:
Yesterday (I believe) was the first day of "no cash bail" in Illinois, by the way.
A woman accused of pepper-spraying four Chicago cops during Mexican Independence Day festivities in the Loop became the first person in the city to have a new felony criminal case handled under the state’s new no-cash-bail law.
Esmeralda Aguilar, 24, of Cicero, was released from custody after appearing before Judge Mary Marubio at the Leighton Criminal Courthouse on Monday afternoon. Prosecutors did not ask Marubio to hold Aguilar in the county jail.
Aguilar intentionally discharged pepper spray toward a group of Chicago cops in the 200 block of North Wabash around 2:38 a.m. Sunday, according to her CPD arrest report. The incident was captured on police body cameras and resulted in two officers being treated at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, according to the report.
She is charged with four counts of aggravated battery of a peace officer.
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Target said Tuesday that it will close nine stores in major cities across the country, citing violence, theft and organized retail crime.
The company will close one store in New York City’s Harlem neighborhood, two locations in Seattle, three stores in the San Francisco-Oakland area and three more in Portland, Oregon. The discounter said it will shutter the stores for good on Oct. 21.
“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 news release.
“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.”
Target, which has nearly 2,000 stores in the U.S., has been outspoken about organized retail crime at its stores. It has said theft has driven higher levels of shrink, an industry term used to describe losses from goods that were damaged, misplaced or stolen.
With its announcement Tuesday, Target also stands apart in its decision to both shutter stores and to explicitly blame that decision on retail crime.
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Target said Tuesday that it will close nine stores in major cities across the country, citing violence, theft and organized retail crime.
The company will close one store in New York City’s Harlem neighborhood, two locations in Seattle, three stores in the San Francisco-Oakland area and three more in Portland, Oregon. The discounter said it will shutter the stores for good on Oct. 21.
“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 news release.
“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.”
Target, which has nearly 2,000 stores in the U.S., has been outspoken about organized retail crime at its stores. It has said theft has driven higher levels of shrink, an industry term used to describe losses from goods that were damaged, misplaced or stolen.
With its announcement Tuesday, Target also stands apart in its decision to both shutter stores and to explicitly blame that decision on retail crime.
