Surprised they came out and said it. No tip toeing around of, "Taking a look at individual stores' performance..." Nope, theft and organized theft given as the reasons for the closures.

https://www.adn.com/nation-wor...and-organized-theft/

Target to close 9 stores, citing employee safety and organized theft
By Anne D'Innocenzio, Associated Press
Updated: 26 minutes ago
Published: 2 hours ago

(AP Photo/Alan Diaz, File)
NEW YORK — Target said Tuesday that it will close nine stores in four states, including one in New York City’s East Harlem neighborhood, and three in the San Francisco Bay Area, saying that theft and organized retail crime have threatened the safety of its workers and customers.

The closings, which will be effective Oct. 21, also include three stores in Portland, Oregon, and two in Seattle. Target said that it still will have a combined 150 stores open in the markets where the closures are taking place. It said it will offer affected workers the opportunity to transfer to other stores.

The Minneapolis retailer said the decision to close the stores was difficult.

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“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 said in a statement.

Target said it has invested heavily in strategies to prevent theft, such as adding more security workers, using third-party guard services and installing theft-deterrent tools, like locking up merchandise. It also has trained store leaders and security-team members to protect themselves and de-escalate potential safety issues.

But it noted that it still faced “fundamental challenges” to operate the stores safely — and the business performance at the locations slated for closure was unsustainable.

[Records show REI’s frustration with Portland officials ahead of planned closure]

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While the store closings account for just a fraction of the 1,900 stores Target operates nationwide, the move underscores the challenges retailers face in reducing theft in stores, protecting their workers and customers, and maintaining locations in areas that might have few shopping alternatives.

For example, the Target store in East Harlem is one of the few choices residents have nearby to buy good quality healthy foods. In San Francisco, the store slated to close is located at 13th Street and Folsom under a busy overpass with homeless tents in a largely commercial neighborhood with auto shops. The other two Bay Area stores being closed are in Oakland and Pittsburg. In Seattle, one of the stores is located on a busy avenue near the University of Washington.

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Target CEO Brian Cornell has been one of a handful of retail CEOs flagging what they described as rising theft over the past year or so. Cornell had held steadfast he didn’t want to resort to closing stores despite mounting losses. Target said in May that theft was cutting into its bottom line and it expected related losses could be $500 million more than last year, when losses from theft were estimated to be anywhere from $700 million to $800 million. So that means losses could top $1.2 billion this fiscal year.

Moreover, Cornell told analysts in August that violent incidents against workers at Target stores increased 120% for the first five months of the year compared with the same period a year ago.

“Our team continues to face an unacceptable amount of retail theft and organized retail crime,” Cornell told analysts. “Unfortunately, safety incidents associated with theft are moving in the wrong direction.”

The announcement also comes as Target is still reeling from being targeted for its LGBTQ+ support, in particular its displays of Pride Month merchandise. In late May, ahead of Pride Month, Target pulled some items in particular regions and made other changes after encountering hostility from customers who confronted workers and tipped over displays. Target said the moves were made to protect workers in the stores.

It’s unclear how much money retailers broadly are losing due to organized retail crime — or if the problem has substantially increased. But the issue has received more notice in the past few years as high-profile smash-and-grab retail thefts and flash mob robberies have garnered national media attention. Over the past few quarters, an increasing number of retailers including Dick’s Sporting Goods and Ulta Beauty have been calling out rising theft, citing it a factor in shrinking profits.

Walmart CEO Doug McMillon told CNBC in December that theft was on the rise at stores. In August, he told analysts that in some jurisdictions in the U.S., there needs to be action taken to help protect people from crime, including theft.

The National Retail Federation, the nation’s largest retail trade group, said its latest security survey of roughly 177 retailers found that inventory loss — called shrink — clocked in at an average rate of 1.6 % last year, representing $112.1 billion in losses. That’s up from 1.4% the previous year.

The greatest portion of shrink — 65% — came from external theft, including products taken during organized shoplifting incidents, the trade group said Tuesday. More than two-thirds of respondents said they were seeing even more violence and aggression from perpetrators of organized retail crime compared with a year ago.

The NRF said that even though retailers continue to improve their loss-prevention measures, sometimes more drastic action must be taken. Nearly 30% of retailers surveyed reported being forced to close a specific store location, and 45% said they needed to reduce operating hours. Roughly 30% said they needed to change or reduce product selection in stores as a direct result of retail crime.

Late last year, Congress passed a bill, called the INFORM ACT, that seeks to combat sales of counterfeit goods and dangerous products by compelling online marketplaces to verify different types of information — including bank account, tax ID and contact details — for sellers who make at least 200 unique sales and earn a minimum of $5,000 in a given year.

Target said Tuesday that it’s making significant investments in cyber defense to combat retail theft and fraud and has teamed up with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Homeland Security Investigations division to combat retail theft.

quote:

and the business performance at the locations slated for closure was unsustainable.

Poor performance, which is made worse by thieves. We don't know if these stores would perform well enough without rampant theft, and if the safety problems are enough by themselves, but they seem to be pretty transparent that the thievery is a big factor.

Target Closing Stores in NYC, San Francisco, Oakland, Portland and Seattle Due to Rampant Crime and Lawlessness

The media is perplexed, confused, flummoxed in their ability to identify what all of the locations might have in common. Funny that.

According to Target Inc. they are closing stores in urban areas in four specific states. 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 (WA), three locations in Portland (OR), and three locations in San Francisco and Oakland (CA). {link}

“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.” {LINK}

Remember when all the alerts a few years ago indicated that people should quickly evaluate their proximity and carefully consider relocating away from blue urban areas?

Well, it’s only going to get worse….

https://theconservativetreehou...essness/#more-251260

And in other 100% predictable news.

Subsidize bad behavior and you get more of it? Huh...

Walmart stores in the Chicago and Portland area had been running at a loss for the last 10-years. With no end in sight to organized retail theft, they are packing/packed up.

While unfortunate that there will be some people put-out by these closures (I'm thinking seniors and handicap), the reality is communities need harsh reminders of what happens when anti-social behavior and low-end criminal theft is tolerated rather than dealt with. Really is it's a reflection of the cultural short-comings of the surrounding areas but, nobody wants to go to the deep-end.

These companies climbed into bed with the Left. Now they're getting fucked.

What did they expect?

quote:

Originally posted by Fenris:
These companies climbed into bed with the Left. Now they're getting fucked.

What did they expect?

Yep.



They continue to vote for this shit, it was all clear, out in the open while voting for those who push these policies. These stupid commie politicians and voters thought this defund police/BLM shit sounded cool, but like all leftist morons, they don't think things all the way through. Fuck 'em.

quote:

Originally posted by corsair:
While unfortunate that there will be some people put-out by these closures (I'm thinking seniors and handicap), the reality is communities need harsh reminders of what happens when anti-social behavior and low-end criminal theft is tolerated rather than dealt with. Really is it's a reflection of the cultural short-comings of the surrounding areas but, nobody wants to go to the deep-end.

Yep, cultural rot and decay.

quote:

Originally posted by chellim1:
According to Target Inc. they are closing stores in urban areas in four specific states. 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 (WA), three locations in Portland (OR), and three locations in San Francisco and Oakland (CA).

I know I'm preaching to the choir here, but it's not the states that are the problem. It's the cities. All big blue cities under Democrat control. Before I retired last year I lived in Portland for 45 years, and saw the rapid decline of the place over the last 10 or so. Even on the rare occasions when the police will actually arrest someone for shoplifting (or many other crimes), the DA won't prosecute them, let alone punish them. And then the dem voters cry "Why won't our PD protect us from crime? Defund the police!" One month after my last work day, I was outta there.

Yeah, in all three locations the states (WA, OR, CA, NY) are also hard core Democrat ruled. But even there, local jurisdictions (i.e., voters) have the power to put in leadership that will address crime rather than just shrug their shoulders about it. But they don't.

quote:

“We know that our stores serve an important role in their communities,...” Target said in a statement.

Yeah, for "gettin all the free shit"!

Yep.
Target, Walmart, Nike store and a whole bunch of little guys have packed it up here.

The idiot mayor was blathering on about how hard it was for everyone in these unprecedented times.
Each and every thing that is happening is directly due to the actions of that twat.

Woke shit getting exactly what they deserve.

미안합니다
mianhabnida

Won’t be long before the usual suspects are claiming it’s (closing these stores) racism & redlining.

One of the two stores closing in Seattle sort of surprises me. The one near to the University of Washington is the predictable one; between "starving" college kids, the high school dropouts that always hang around the campus, the young homeless that have nothing better to do but to do the same...pretty much any national chain store is doomed to fail there, particularly from thievery. It was that way when I was a student there, and it's been the same ever since and probably for some time prior. But the one in Seattle's Ballard neighborhood, that I wouldn't have expected; instead I would've predicted that their store in downtown Seattle to be the other location to be axed, especially if rampant theft is to blame.

I know there's a lot of homeless there since a good chunk of Ballard's southern end real estate is made up of light industrial businesses, making it prime for the wretched to set up their drug-infused cesspools. But that particular Target is located in a high-traffic retail area of the neighborhood, where what residential there is nearby is primarily made up of predominately white middle to upper middle class. That store is also housed within a relatively new multi-million dollar development. However knowing the usual mindset of Ballardians, as a breed they're the kind that would rather shop with local businesses rather than cozy up and throw their money with some big flashy chain store, though the whole Target LGBTXYZ thing would kind of fit their generally liberal politics. But for that store to shutter I suspect that it's a genuine lack of local foot traffic that is the REAL reason that location is closing. Blaming it on theft is just an easier and much more convenient way to try to wriggle their way out of what has to be a fairly expensive lease agreement.

Hot crime city Portland is a place every business should exit. It is hopeless with progressive democrats in control. If you visit, come armed.

quote:

Originally posted by 220-9er:
Won’t be long before the usual suspects are claiming it’s (closing these stores) racism & redlining.

I was just thinking that. They literally have painted a target on themselves.

quote:

Nike store and a whole bunch of little guys have packed it up here.

OMG with no Nike shoes to steal, what will the masses do with their free time!

How are these people going to collect their reparations ?