D.C. TEENS HAVING LOTS OF FUN AT THE EXPENSE OF CVS BEFORE SCHOOL, AFTER SCHOOL AND LATE AT NIGHT ..... WHERE IN THE HELL ARE THE COPS?

Shocking photos show bare shelves in CVS store in DC after being routinely ransacked by mob of up to FIFTY unruly teenagers before and after school

Little remains that is not locked up on the shelves of the inner-city pharmacy. Comes as CVS swings the ax on 900 stores  

 

By Dominic Yeatman  

 

Daily Mail

Oct 4, 2023

 

Desolate shelves greet visitors to the CVS in DC that is routinely stripped by shoplifting children on their way to or from school 

 

The desolate results of America's shoplifting epidemic have been laid bare at a CVS in DC where entire shelves have been cleared by gangs of children who attack every day.

A sole security guard at the store in Columbia Heights is no match for up to 50 teens who routinely strip the store both before and after school, Fox 5 reported.

The pharmacist chain is in the process of closing 900 stores across the US in the face of a crimewave that the National Retail Federation says is costing the industry $112billion a year.

And little remains that is not locked up at the beleaguered outlet in the center of the city.

'When you walk into this CVS, you'd think the store is closing because there's barely anything on the shelves,' Fox 5 reporter Sierra Fox told viewers.

 

The store in the central Columbia Heights district could go the way of 900 CVS outlets due for the chop

 

'I did ask an employee what gets stolen the most, and they just laughed and said "everything".

'A big group of kids, like 45 or more, walk in before school, after school and late at night to steal chips and drinks.

'They even throw the food and beverages on the ground and stomp on them, leaving behind a big mess.'

Analysts at UBS predict that at least 50,000 shops will close in the US over the next five years driven by the move to online shopping and the impact of theft on their bottom line.

Target blamed shoplifters for its decision last week to close nine stores in the crime ravaged cities of Oakland, New York, Seattle, San Francisco and Portland.

'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 firm said in a statement.

Last month a CVS store manager was shot and killed by a suspected shoplifter who said he was 'tired of being bullied' by staff trying to prevent thefts.

Jared Stavey, 38, had spent four hours at CVS in Mesa, Arizona, before gunning down father-of-two Michael Jacobs, 49.

'I'm guilty,' 'I planned it,' and 'I bet he ain't talking sh** no more,' the killer told detectives before being charged with first-degree premeditated murder.

 

Whole sections of the store have been cleared of products by shoplifters

It took encasement in ice to prevent these sad looking waffles being snaffled 

Security cameras and one guard are little use in the face of a 50-strong crime wave 

CEO Karen Lynch said 'our retail stores are fundamental to our strategy and who we are as a company', but 900 are set to shut

 

Three-hundred CVS stores closed in 2022, and the chain expects to close another 300 this year, before closing another 300 in 2024.

The realignment is based on an evaluation of changes in population, consumer buying patterns and future health needs, the company claimed.

Thousands more stores across the US have been forced to lock up basic products like toothpaste and deodorant following the spike in shoplifting.

Fox 5 was told that street vendors in Columbia Heights are allegedly 'paying people to go in and steal stuff so they can resell it'. 

'Staff at CVS have been alerted that thieves are aware of when new shipments come in and that's when they target the store,' the outlet added.

A survey by CapitalOne Research calculated that stores catch shoplifters roughly 2 percent of the time, with the average shoplifter being arrested just once in 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.

Another store in Albany, New York, closed this week, though the chain did not say if this was part of their planned shuttering.

Rival pharmacies are making similar moves to close their doors, with Rite Aid and Walgreens also closing stores.

Rite Aid announced it would close two more stores earlier this month, following the closure of 25 stores earlier this year, amid reports the company is preparing to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

 

Jared Stevey, 38, left is charged with shooting dead CVS store manager Michael Jacobs (pictured right with his wife Stacey and children)  

An employee workers in a CVS store in 2018. The chain's stock price rose after the 2021 announcement stores would be closed as part of a switch in strategy

 

Rite Aid forecasts it will generate 'approximately $650 million and $680 million' in losses next year.

Rite Aid's chief financial officer and executive vice president, Matthew Schroeder, said: 'We're constantly looking at performance of stores, particularly ones that don't have much lease life left on the lease and determining whether we've got an opportunity to continue to maximize the profitability and the efficiency of the fleet.

'I would expect us to continue to do that.'

Walgreens also closed a store in Berkeley, California, on August 23 this year, and is planning to close at least 150 stores as part of a cost-saving strategy, while making upgrades to remaining locations.=