Walgreens debuts ‘anti-theft’ store with just TWO aisles open to customers – the rest is locked up and needs to be ordered from a kiosk
- The Chicago store opened on Tuesday to mixed reviews from customers
- Two aisles of ‘essentials’ are open to customers, but everything else must be ordered from a counter
- It comes after the company’s chief financial officer told investors executives may have overstated the effects of organized shoplifting
A Chicago branch of Walgreens has been redesigned with just two aisles where customers may shop for themselves, the rest must be done via a kiosk.
The new ‘anti-theft’ store at at 2 East Roosevelt in downtown Chicago will trust shoppers to pick up ‘essentials’ for themselves in the two free aisles, but everything else must be ordered and picked up via a counter.
The store, which took weeks to construct, opened to mixed reviews on Tuesday.
One shopper told WBBM Newsradio their experience was positive: ‘It is nice that, for the essentials, you no longer have to call security to get them to open the glass case.’
Another, however, felt that the lack of trust was disappointing: ‘We should be able to be trusted to go in without having to have cameras and people watching us and all that stuff.’
‘I’m not a huge fan of kiosk ordering. It’s not going to make me come more often,’ another man added.
A spokesperson for Walgreens told CWB Chicago the company is ‘testing a new experience at this store with new concepts, technologies, and practices to enhance the experiences of our customers and team members.’
‘It will continue to offer retail products and pharmacy services, just with a new look and feel that focuses on shopping digitally for convenience.
‘Inside the store, customers will find an area where they can pick-up orders, digital kiosks for placing an order, as well as an area to shop for essential items.’
The move comes after Walgreens chief financial officer told investors on an earnings call earlier this year that executives may have overstated the effects of organized shoplifting.
‘Maybe we cried too much last year,’ James Kehoe said.
Kehoe also said that the company had ‘probably’ mischaracterized how much theft took place in the chain’s stores and may have spent too much introducing security measures.
Walgreens closed five stores in San Francisco in October 2021, citing organized shoplifting.
Shoplifting has been at the center of political debates about crime, especially in urban areas such as San Francisco.
The National Retail Federation said that the scourge of shoplifting – which grew worse during the pandemic – cost the industry almost $100billion in 2022.
Recent videos of brazen shoplifters have gone viral online, as residents become increasingly frustrated about rising crime.
Surveillance footage shows a gang of crooks wearing masks wheeling shopping carts loaded with valuable products out of a Home Depot store in New York.
Another clip showed shoplifters loading up duffel bags and backpacks with perfumes and colognes from a Ross store in Colorado.
One Ross Dress for Less manager has said that thieves are targeting her Colorado store up to four times a day.
Footage captured at the location shows a number of thieves storming through the store filling bags with items before casually leaving.
The store manager Ashley Finley, told CBS News: ‘It happens a lot. I would say that kind of incident happens four times a day.
Finley continued: ‘It’s company policy; we’re not allowed to touch them, follow them or we are putting our job in jeopardy.
‘We don’t even intimidate them at this point — they just come in here, get what they want, then they leave.
‘We can’t touch them, can’t grab anything from their hands, can’t put ourselves in jeopardy.’
Chris Howes, president of the Colorado Retail Council, said that organized retail crime is happening more and more often and is now estimated to cost Colorado retailers $1 billion a year in losses.
