Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Theft Is Now Costing Retailers in the United States About 100 BILLION Dollars a Year
DISCERN REPORT ^ | May 20, 2023 | Michael Snyder

Posted on 05/20/2023 5:50:57 AM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum

If we don’t fix this, will the retail industry be able to survive? There has always been shoplifting, but in the old days it was at a level that made it only a minor nuisance to the big box retailers. Unfortunately, now everything has changed.

Highly organized gangs have developed extremely sophisticated plans for how to rapidly loot our major retailers, and the best ones can be in and out in just minutes. Those goods are then resold online or in the streets, and the amounts that we are talking about are absolutely staggering. In fact, as you will see below, theft is now costing retailers in this country about 100 billion dollars a year.

This week, Target made headlines all over the nation when it publicly admitted that theft will cost it 500 million more dollars than it did last year…

Target said Wednesday that organized retail crime will fuel $500 million more in stolen and lost merchandise this year compared with a year ago.

Target’s inventory loss, called shrink, totaled about $763 million last fiscal year, based on calculations from the company’s financial filings. With the anticipated increase, shrink this year would surpass $1 billion.

Let’s do some math. 763 million from last year plus 500 million more this year equals 1.263 billion dollars. Please keep in mind that this is just one chain.

As Target CEO Brian Cornell openly admitted earlier this week, organized retail crime has become a massive problem “across the entire retail industry”…

‘The unfortunate fact is violent incidents are increasing at our stores and across the entire retail industry. And when products are stolen, simply put they are no longer available for guests who depend on them.

‘Left unchecked, organized retail crime degrades the communities we call home. As we work to address this problem, the safety of our guests and our team members will always be our primary concern.


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Government; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: crime; niggers; retail; theft
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-6061-8081-95 next last
"Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other." --John Adams
1 posted on 05/20/2023 5:50:57 AM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: E. Pluribus Unum

if they spent a little on security and let them do their jobs, they’d have more $$ in the long run.


2 posted on 05/20/2023 5:52:48 AM PDT by ronniesgal (friends don't let friends be Kardashians)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: E. Pluribus Unum

Hmmm.., I smell a deliberate move to kill the ability to go to a shop and instead have only shipping… and digital cureency and control of people from their home through social media becoming a jail…

Amazon-postal conspiracy v 3.0?

V 1.0 Trump points the special Amazon postal privileged rates
V 2.0 Covid lockdowns keep big retailers affloat and punish small shops
V 3.0 Now rampant traditional facilities based police goes down in favor of social media control and military like shopping via shipping…


3 posted on 05/20/2023 5:54:51 AM PDT by JudgemAll (Democrats Fed. job-security in hates:hypocrites must be gay like us or be tested/crucified)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: E. Pluribus Unum
The Color of Crime.

4 posted on 05/20/2023 5:54:57 AM PDT by Governor Dinwiddie (LORD, grant thy people grace to withstand the temptations of the world, the flesh, and the devil.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: JudgemAll

Agreed. No retail, no interaction, just tapping on a computer linking consumers to distribution centers.


5 posted on 05/20/2023 5:58:03 AM PDT by drwoof
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: E. Pluribus Unum

I have several solutions to this from having grown up overseas, married into the Mexican culture and world travels. When some of you get tired of the theft, contact me for consultation.


6 posted on 05/20/2023 5:58:42 AM PDT by MeneMeneTekelUpharsin (Freedom is the freedom to discipline yourself so others don't have to do it for you.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: E. Pluribus Unum

It’s going to get worse. I never understood why thieves run out of stores today with stolen property. Keep the theft under $1000 and stroll out at your leisure. Go sit under a tree and try the stuff on. No one will stop you.


7 posted on 05/20/2023 6:00:11 AM PDT by JonPreston ( ✌ ☮️ )
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: E. Pluribus Unum

I wonder how much copycat behavior goes on here.

Here’s what I mean. Some guy is kinda, sorta honest. He’ll stand in line. He’ll pay for his goods. But then he sees - and hears of - other people getting away with not paying.

So maybe he decides he’s a sucker for paying.


8 posted on 05/20/2023 6:00:53 AM PDT by Leaning Right (The steal is real.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: E. Pluribus Unum

Shrink is tax deductible.

Maybe if that was ended Big Retail would push prosecutors to get medieval on the heinies of thieves...


9 posted on 05/20/2023 6:01:25 AM PDT by mewzilla (We will never restore the republic if we don't first secure the ballot box.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: E. Pluribus Unum

Who fences all of this stuff and where can I get it for pennys on the dollar?


10 posted on 05/20/2023 6:02:09 AM PDT by central_va (I won't be reconstructed and I do not give a damn...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: E. Pluribus Unum

One of my favorite quotes. It could not have been said any better.


11 posted on 05/20/2023 6:04:03 AM PDT by FlingWingFlyer (Since O'Bama was ruling the roost, America has gone from melting pot to septic tank of the world.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: mewzilla

Can they get Credits for reparations?


12 posted on 05/20/2023 6:04:13 AM PDT by griswold3 (Truth, Beauty and Goodness )
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 9 | View Replies]

To: mewzilla

And get a load of this...

https://smallbusiness.chron.com/tax-line-used-inventory-shrinkage-77292.html

“...The Internal Revenue Service isn’t necessarily concerned with tracking the effects of shrinkage on your bottom line; its main concern is determining your taxable income. As a result, it doesn’t recognize shrinkage as a specific expense with its own line. Instead, it’s reported on tax forms as a miscellaneous or “other” expense under the cost of goods sold section...”

Whoakaaaay....


13 posted on 05/20/2023 6:04:22 AM PDT by mewzilla (We will never restore the republic if we don't first secure the ballot box.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 9 | View Replies]

To: griswold3

See my reply #13.

Looking to see if it works that way for Big Retail, too...


14 posted on 05/20/2023 6:05:01 AM PDT by mewzilla (We will never restore the republic if we don't first secure the ballot box.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 12 | View Replies]

To: E. Pluribus Unum

Sounds like the boyz already took their “reparations” with their smash and grabs.


15 posted on 05/20/2023 6:05:26 AM PDT by FlingWingFlyer (Since O'Bama was ruling the roost, America has gone from melting pot to septic tank of the world.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: central_va

Crazy as this sounds many theft rings latch onto on line stores like Wall mart target etc . Many of these on line stores allow third party sales. So a theft ring stealing from Walmart is under selling Walmart on their own on line sales plat form.


16 posted on 05/20/2023 6:08:41 AM PDT by carcraft (Pray for our Country)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 10 | View Replies]

To: E. Pluribus Unum
If we don’t fix this, will the retail industry be able to survive?

It's easy to fix if retailers have the guts to stand up to the Woke Movement and the enabling political establishment.

Turning retail establishments into clubs is one way. Paying money for a club membership and adopting in-store strategies to discourage shoplifting works (like at Costco).

17 posted on 05/20/2023 6:08:57 AM PDT by RoosterRedux (See my FR homepage for a link to the entire Bible narrated by David Suchet on youtube. FREE!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: ronniesgal

We pay for this BS because stores have to meet the bottom line. The truth is it hurts poor people most.


18 posted on 05/20/2023 6:09:56 AM PDT by carcraft (Pray for our Country)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: E. Pluribus Unum

Someday someone smart will start a retail chain with only sabotaged display models that you can handle. If you want a real (whatever), you pay, then an employee in a walled-off warehouse behind the display area sends a working model out.


19 posted on 05/20/2023 6:10:11 AM PDT by Lazamataz (The firearms I own today, are the firearms I will die with. How I die will be up to them.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: E. Pluribus Unum

These businesses do nothing to stop the thugs from ripping them off. Nor do they call out RAT DA’s who do not do their duty to prosecute.


20 posted on 05/20/2023 6:11:42 AM PDT by kenmcg (ti hi o)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-6061-8081-95 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson