attitudes of law and prosecutor made it impossible to operate a profitable business

[Mike Mercury]

Iconic Target Store on Mission St to Close Amid Shoplifting Tidal Wave

https://californiaglobe.com/local/sa...ng-tidal-wave/

Last week, after Walgreens announced that five additional outlets in San Francisco would be closing on top of the 17 that already have been shuttered since 2019, the company claimed that changes in both the law and prosecutor attitudes and made it impossible to run a profitable business in the city.

Mayor London Breed challenged that narrative. She attributed the closings to demographic shifts and the Chronicle dutifully reported that “the five stores slated to close had fewer than two recorded shoplifting incidents a month on average since 2018” (while acknowledging that few stores bother to report a crime that now routinely goes unpunished). Everyone who has stood in line at a drugstore and watched thieves shove hundreds of dollars of items down their pants knew that Breed was mistaken at best or lying at worst.
Shoppers at the Target on Mission St are greeted by armed and uniformed SFPD. (Photo by Ken Kurson for California Globe)

Now, in a Globe exclusive, San Francisco Police Department has revealed that the iconic Target on Mission Street between Third and Fourth Streets will be shutting its doors before the end of the year.

“This store loses $25,000 a day to shoplifting,” an SFPD officer told the Globe in lengthy, taped interviews conducted this week. “That’s $25,000 that walks out the door on average between 9 and 6 every day.”

(The Globe is redacting the officers’ names because of critical remarks made about Mayor London Breed and District Attorney Chesa Boudin that could potentially endanger their jobs.)

“This store does between $80,000 to $120,000 in sales every day. And they lose 25 of it [meaning $25,000]. Even if they’re making 25% profit, the stealing takes that down to zero.”

Asked if the presence of armed, uniformed police officers had any deterrent effect on thieves, one officer was blunt in his assessment.

“They don’t care. There’s no consequences. Literally zero consequences. I’ve kicked out… I’ve been here since 9 AM today. I probably have already kicked out eight or nine people and I’ve recovered a thousand dollars worth of stuff alone off of that. Whether we kick them out, tell them they can’t come back, whether I put them in handcuffs and take them down to the county jail—there is no difference. Because they will not be prosecuted by the district attorney. Therefore, there is nothing documented that they can’t come back here. You know, they get no time in jail to think about what they did, right? There is zero consequence. And that’s why in this store the same exact people come in every other day and in the city the same couple percent of people are the same people committing all the car break-ins, all the robberies and all the shootings, any aggravated assaults right in town where there’s more street people, people fighting. It’s all the same exact people, and there are zero consequences. Therefore you take them to jail they get out of jail. They do it again. It’s a big circle.”

Target has already taken measures to decrease the catastrophic shrinkage. In July, the retailer cited an “‘alarming rise’ in thefts at its San Francisco stores” and cut its hours. The Mission St. store had been open from 8 am to 10 pm and is now open only from 9 am to 6 pm.

"Their hours, all Targets in San Francisco right now compressed their hours, right? Every store is 9 AM to 6 PM, which pisses everybody off down here because a lot of people get off work at 6 o’clock and they come in and they are like, ‘What? Target is closed?’ … ‘Yeah, Target is closed.’ It is out of control. … They are closing the one on Bush Street. There’s one on Bush and Sansome, right there. They are closing it in a month. Right before Thanksgiving. That one is closing partly because the Financial District isn’t back you know, right.”

But according to this officer, the Mission Street Target will also be closed by the end of the year despite having solid revenue, because they cannot get the shoplifting under control. “In San Francisco, the only reason why they haven’t closed. They want to have it here, right, and this is the biggest one in San Francisco.”

In addition to the limited hours, the retail giant has taken other measures. The Mission Street store locks not just those items that have become commonplace at high-theft areas throughout San Fran such as Tylenol and razors, but also, in a first for California Globe, Tide and other heavy, large laundry detergents were also behind lock and key. Vitamins, false eyelashes, Nicorette, skin creams, Lego, water bottles, hairdryers and even bulky low-priced items like body wash all are protected by sophisticated anti-theft equipment. Even the “fancy” toothpaste. All of which, of course, raises costs for the honest hard-working shoppers and slows the checkout process for all. It also means an embarrassing quest to find a customer service person who now needs to be told of a shopper’s smelliness, dry skin and frizzy hair.
SFPD officers have told the Globe that the shoplifting epidemic forcing SF stores to close will not end until there’s a change in policy: ‘The prosecution has to change.’

Still, they steal. Earlier this week, a reporter from the Globe spotted a man shoving food down his pants without a worry in the world. And even when items are not exactly removed from the store, they’re still stolen. When the Globe reporter went to buy Fig Newtons, every single package on the shelves had been opened and had several delicious cookies removed. A display of Hershey’s Kisses had been magically transformed into a “grab a free handful” situation by the industrious residents of SOMA.

On a recent visit, one red-vested employee was busily installing additional theft guard barriers.

And none of it has been enough to ward off the imminent shuttering of a beloved—and necessary—local institution.

Care to enjoy a Frappuccino while you shop? Just take it. Drink it. Then put the empty on the shelf. Like Reese’s Pieces? (Who doesn’t!) Just rip off the top and pop ’em down like they did in E.T. It’s not only gross, it’s completely demoralizing to the staff. Irene, a checker, told the Globe that she gets furious watching customers steal while she works hard to pay for what her family needs. And now her store will be closing.

The Globe told the police officers that we, like all of the world, had seen store security officers routinely ignored by aggressive shoplifters. But we expressed surprise that even the full-time presence of two armed and uniformed SFPD wasn’t enough to deter this level of crime.

One officer told the Globe, “Our chief of police actually came in a couple of months ago and did the same thing you did. He literally was like shocked that everything was locked up and he didn’t understand why and that’s kind of a little naïve on his end, but the same thing. And one worker went up to him and was almost like tearing up and she was like, ‘If you don’t have officers here tomorrow, I’m not coming to work.’ We’re here for the theft, sort of, but our main objective in essence is to protect the employees, because all the people that come in. The security guards tell these people all day long, “Get out, get out, get out.” And what do they do? They flip them off or berate them or want to bite them or hit him – anything. So that in essence was more of our responsibility. We get a lot of the product back that’s stolen, but it’s impossible to catch everybody, especially when they are concealing it in bags. They go out all day, there are four fire exits here, they go right onto the street, right? And it’s hard when security can’t tou
ch them. They can’t touch them. They can’t grab your arm and say ‘Hey, put that back.’ They’d be fired, there would be a lawsuit.”

So if the in-store security is hamstrung by these rules, why aren’t the police tackling these thieves?

According to one officer, “They give us more leeway, but they still don’t want us, again, on the floor tackling somebody for taking like a couple of pairs of pants, right. Stealing $50 worth of merchandise…”

In 2021, Target made $27.3 billion in profit on sales of $93.6 billion, which is a healthy gross margin of 29.3% before expenses such as depreciation and amortization, interest, and taxes, all of which takes the final operating profit down to around 5%. Still a healthy number, but the store on Mission St. already has some of the highest labor and security costs in the entire chain.
Mayor Breed Begs Target to Reconsider

This particular Target is a critical institution for a neighborhood that is already struggling with social ills. Aggressive panhandlers routinely perch outside the entrance. Human feces on the street has gone from a rare shock to disgustingly commonplace. Visitors to Frena, the scrumptious Israeli bakery and café around the corner, now have to be buzzed in like they’re viewing fine jewelry.

And of course, there’s a political component here. The Globe asked the officers why the store hadn’t closed already, since the full-time presence of uniformed PD hadn’t been able to stem the tide.

“The manager told me this a few weeks back, that’s where I got all the numbers from, but you know our mayor, London Breed, everybody would lose their mind, they’ve been very adamant, ‘Do not close this place,’ but Target they don’t care. They are like, they see the numbers, right, and that’s why our boss is like, ‘We will get you whatever you need,’” (meaning that’s why SFPD has provided so many resources to this particular private business).

And still it hasn’t worked. The officers expect the Mission St. Target to close by the end of the year.

According to one officer, “In 2019, Walgreens in San Francisco lost—all Walgreens—lost $25 million in theft. That’s why if you go to every Walgreens pretty much there’s an officer sitting at a Walgreens anywhere you go all over and they are still closing Walgreens, and it’s still the same thing here – the same people, the same daily essential products or whatever. And if you go to 16th and Mission, they have like a fence there, and they sell all of this stuff that they take here. It’s out of control.”

Asked for a final thought on what could possibly reverse course, one officer said, “Got to change the process. The prosecution has to change.” Another chimed in: “It will never change.”

[Louie Detroit]

Absolute leftist commie faggotry.

[Norm]

I don't care how pretty and iconic that city is, ICNLT and put up with the gov't stupidity.

[Mike Mercury]

the fix for this is to concentrate on the working class (those that pay their own way through life) and

* tax them even more
* call them names (racist, sexist, bigoted, homophobes)

and distribute even more mail-in ballots for the next round of elections.

[Rodnok1]

Well they will bitch Target is racist and complain about lack of stores in the area just like they do all over. People complain about food stores closing up, well employees don't like being robbed and shot. Bet their workman's comp is thru the roof in some areas. It'll end up being few retail stores will be walk in, they'll switch to a pickup only scenario between 2 sets of secure doors like a jewelry store.
Talk about an economy killer, think of the lost tax revenue also.

[Vandelay Industries]

Every time I go to WallyWorld, they have more things locked up. Even socks and underwear.

[DJ_Critterus]

Originally Posted by Vandelay Industries

Every time I go to WallyWorld, they have more things locked up. Even socks and underwear.

You'll notice that work clothes and work boots aren't locked up, though.

[Vandelay Industries]

Originally Posted by DJ_Critterus

You'll notice that work clothes and work boots aren't locked up, though.

Odd, isn't it?

[Strats-N-Vettes]

Originally Posted by DJ_Critterus

You'll notice that work clothes and work boots aren't locked up, though.

Also notice they will always have a full stack of job applications and no new pens.

(because the pens are stolen)

[VITE1]

I am loving this. The people in SF got the government and society they have been voting for over the past 5 decades. Let them embrace the mess they've made and become one with the unwashed and feral masses.

[DJ_Critterus]

Originally Posted by VITE1

I am loving this. The people in SF got the government and society they have been voting for over the past 5 decades. Let them embrace the mess they've made and become one with the unwashed and feral masses.

It's time to build another border wall, but this time to contain them in SF. At least the weather will be nice.

[Rodnok1]

Originally Posted by Vandelay Industries

Every time I go to WallyWorld, they have more things locked up. Even socks and underwear.

They stopped locking high theft items a couple year ago if they were deamed to be only used by people of color... They were called racist and they caved although maybe they just stopped carrying those items. Pretty sure Walmart doesn't give 2 shits what products are used by whom, if t stolen they get locked up... Well they did before.
People suck...

[Mike Mercury]

“... our (mayor) is like, ‘We will get you whatever you need"

OK; how about:

*arresting criminals
*putting them before a judge
*time in jail

also, why do you need to be reminded to do typical/routine law enforcement stuff

[Aerovette]

I'd love for businesses to abandon blue states completely. Let them shrivel and die.

[Millenium Vette]

Fake news...

A report by a conservative news outlet that Target is planning to shutter a prominent San Francisco store due to unchecked shoplifting is false, the company said Friday.

The California Globe incorrectly reported that the central Target store on Mission Street, a part of the Metreon shopping complex, was shuttering.

The report, which spread across social media and was picked up by other outlets including the Washington Times, relied on unnamed San Francisco police officers who purportedly had inside information on the company’s plans.

“The Mission Street store is not closing. That was incorrectly reported and we have followed up on that,” a Target spokesperson said in an email.

Target is, however, closing a store at 225 Bush Street in San Francisco next month, “due to years of under-performing sales,” the spokesperson said. Eligible employees will be offered the option to transfer to other Target stores in their areas.

The erroneous report comes on the heels of a decision by Walgreens to shutter five San Francisco stores. Walgreens said the reason was unchecked retail theft, but provided no proof, and some San Francisco officials pushed back on that explanation.

[Dan Dlabay]

As long as the people there keep voting in this idiot commies then they deserve what the get.

[Mike Mercury]

Fake news...

so the SFPD officers claim the Mission St store will close at end of year, but a Liberal newspaper claims that is false. I guess we'll see come Jan 1.

We can all rest assured that if the store does close, that the SFChronicle will print a huge retraction.

Five Walgreens closed, and possibly one Target store... and all the liberal press can do is provide damage control.

from the original article:

“This store loses $25,000 a day to shoplifting,” an SFPD officer told the Globe in lengthy, taped interviews conducted this week.