Free Republic

We keep hearing about businesses closing shop in San Francisco. Whole Foods lasted one year before it decided that the crime problem was too much. So how about taking guns away from security guards, leaving them defenseless against armed criminals? The end game is probably to replace all security guards with social workers anyway. Dean Preston, a democratic socialist, is behind the legislation: "Today, I’m announcing legislation to limit use of guns by security guards. We must amend local law to prohibit guards from drawing weapons just to protect property. Human life is more important than property."

Gun Owners of America Senior Vice President Erich Pratt says that the Biden administration is going after gun owners and using the ATF to try to shut gun shops down. "Biden has implemented a zero tolerance policy," Pratt said on the Wednesday edition of the "Just the News, No Noise" TV show. "If a gun store makes one mistake, the ATF skips the traditional warnings and goes straight to license revocation. These could be just simple clerical mistakes. Licensing revocations are up anywhere from 300 to 500 percent. This is the most since the early 2000s." Pratt said he received...

SELF-CHECKOUT machines have been a constant feature in supermarkets and grocery stores across the U.S. for years. The kiosks have helped make the shopping process more convenient for customers as they don't have to wait in long lines. But, self-checkout-related theft has become more prominent and there have been occasions when shoppers have been wrongly accused of stealing amid technological errors. Dod Ghassemkhani, a criminal defense attorney based in San Diego, believes that the machines will disappear in the long term. He told The U.S. Sun: “Self-checkouts will eventually go because there’s so much theft. "At some point, it’s not...

Two Wawa stores in Philadelphia closed for good over the weekend, while other locations are shortening hours amid an uptick in crime. “We are very sorry we can’t be there for our friends and neighbors at these two locations, but we continue to serve the community from our other nearby stores and our commitment to the greater region remains strong,” Wawa said in a statement to FOX 29, regarding the locations at 12th and Market and 19th and Market. “Philadelphia is our hometown and that’s something that will never change.” Locations in Feasterville, a Philadelphia suburb, will be closed between...

Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz gave a bleak summary of the reasons why the company was shutting down 16 stores, and he specifically blamed local governments for their lack of law enforcement and treatment for mental illness. The comments were made at an internal meeting and leaked to the public. Schultz said that the stores were not unprofitable but that they were shut down because of safety concerns among the employees. “It has shocked me that one of the primary concerns that our retail partners have is their own personal safety,” he said on the leaked video. “America has become unsafe.”...

/a>The invasion of Ukraine has led many Western companies to suspend or exit Russia, and the latest to do so is McDonald’s, after three decades of operations. NYTimes reports McDonald’s will sell its Russian book of business to a local buyer. The stores will be “de-arched,” meaning the new buyer will no longer use the McDonald’s logo. Most of McDonald’s 847 restaurants in Russia are company-operated. It will write off between $1.2-$1.4 billion and recognize “foreign currency translation losses,” McDonald’s said. “This is a complicated issue that’s without precedent and with profound consequences,” Chris Kempczinski, the chief executive of McDonald’s,...

Politicians in the United States and Canada are taking steps to remove Russian products, including vodka, from store shelves as Russia continues its military offensive against Ukraine. New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu (R) took to Twitter Saturday to announce that he has signed an executive order instructing the state’s wine and liquor outlets “to begin removing Russian-made and Russian-branded spirits from our liquor and wine outlets until further notice.”

A consumer complaint prompted officials to inspect the West Memphis, Arkansas, facility in January, the FDA said in a news release Inside the building, inspectors said they found live rodents, dead rodents in 'various states of decay,' rodent feces, dead birds and bird droppings After fumigating the facility, more than 1,100 dead rodents were recovered, officials said Products include human food, pet food, dietary supplements, cosmetics, medical devices and over-the-counter medications

Labor shortages at supermarkets across the country have increased in recent weeks as the COVID-19 omicron variant continues to spread. Workers are calling sick, and there are not enough cashiers, baggers, and stockers, forcing some supermarket chains to slash hours of operations. Compounding labor woes, supply chains are still severely snarled as food shortages are being reported nationwide. WSJ reports supermarkets are having difficulty staying open as workers call out sick because of infection. Some grocers are frantically hiring new employees, using temporary employment agencies, and overworking current staff to keep stores from shuttering. The seven-store supermarket chain Stew Leonard’s...

Two of the country’s largest retail pharmacies are temporarily closing stores on weekends due to an increase in the number of COVID-19 infections among staffers. The two chains said that the rapid spread of the Omicron variant has depleted staffing at several locations nationwide, affecting customer service and delaying key services like medication prescriptions and vaccinations.

Proving she’s equal parts dishonest and stupid, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) once again attempted to blame evil grocery store chains for inflation. During an appearance this week on far-left MSNBC, Warren argued in favor of using anti-trust laws against grocery store chains.

Target stores will no longer open their doors on Thanksgiving Day. The change, which was announced to employees on Monday, comes after the big-box retailer closed its stores on the holiday last year in an effort to limit crowds and ensure customer safety due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Target and other retailers have traditionally opened on Thanksgiving to capitalize on Black Friday, the start of the holiday sales rush. “What started as a temporary measure driven by the pandemic is now our new standard — one that recognizes our ability to deliver on our guests’ holiday wishes both within and...

Looters have targeted Bay Area businesses in California for the third consecutive day, this time robbing a jewelry store and Lululemon outlet. On Sunday, police in Hayward, Calif. responded to calls from stores at the Southland Mall. That same evening, a group of suspects robbed a Lululemon store in San Jose, according to a local CBS affiliate, KPIX. The calls about suspects at the mall came from multiple stores as thieves briefly took over a jewelry store and caused a large disturbance in the mall, KPIX reported.

CVS Pharmacy announced on Thursday that it would close roughly 900 stores in the next three years. The company said in a statement it was "evaluating changes in population, consumer buying patterns and future health needs to ensure it has the right kinds of stores in the right locations for consumers and for the business." "We remain focused on the competitive advantage provided by our presence in thousands of communities across the country, which complements our rapidly expanding digital presence," CEO Karen S. Lynch said in the statement.

When Target announced that it was opening a store in Mondawmin, a predominantly Black neighborhood in Baltimore, a city struggling with crime and poverty, it seemed like a ticket to a turnaround. And from the start, it was a practical success and a point of community pride. The store, which opened in 2008, carried groceries, operated a pharmacy and had a Starbucks cafe — the only one in this part of Baltimore’s west side. People came from across the city to shop there, helping to soften the Mondawmin area’s reputation for crime and the looting that followed protests over the...

Anthony Fauci, President Biden’s chief medical adviser, said Thursday that schools in the fall should be open “full blast” five days a week after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced that people who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 resume life without masks or other restrictions. When asked by host Jake Tapper on CNN’s “The Lead with Jake Tapper” if he agreed with CDC Director Rochelle Walensky and the president of the American Federation of Teachers that schools in the fall should be 100 percent open and in-person five days a week, Fauci said he did. “Yeah. I...

To the Editor:“Mask required” is not a law. A store is a place of “public accommodation.” They basically have rules that really are suggestions. The time could come when we just want food delivered. As we have heard there is shedding happening with people who have been vaccinated causing many harmful results including the ones who have declined. We live in a contaminated world. Many prayers for all. Kari Leonard Village of Santiago

My go-to supermarket (Randall's) had previously said they would not mandate masks. I was so looking forward to maskless shopping, but decided to call the store to confirm. Seems they reversed their policy, and now "mandate" masks. Further discussion with the manager revealed that they will offer a mask, but no throw you out if you refuse. Just PC semantics BS. I'm off for some free-breathing grocery shopping!

Luxury chocolatier Godiva is getting out of the brick and mortar business. The company is closing or selling all 128 of its brick-and-mortar stores in North America, it announced in a statement. It plans to complete the closures and sales by the end of March. Godiva will keep its stores open across Europe, Middle East and Greater China. The company did not disclose information on how many employees would be let go because of the closures. Less than two years ago, Godiva was planning a massive expansion by getting into the cafe business. The chocolatier opened its first cafe in...

In April, Hendrik Streeck, a virologist at the University of Bonn, determined that it was highly unlikely that shoppers would contract the virus when buying groceries. He told media at the beginning of last month that, through a survey of the disease's spread in Germany, he found "no significant risk of catching the disease when you go shopping." "Severe outbreaks of the infection were always a result of people being closer together over a longer period of time," he said, remarking that in the outbreaks he studied, "infection didn’t come from supermarkets or butchers or restaurants. It came from long...