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OFFICIALS warn that retail theft has risen even more this year, leading to a troubling trend of empty storefronts in major cities.
Over the last year, many chain stores such as CVS, Rite Aid, and Target have voiced alarm at the losses they have faced from retail theft, which has forced them to shut down several stores across the US.
Retail crime has continued to rise since the pandemic, resulting in over $112 billion in losses in 2022, up from $93.9 billion in 2021, according to the National Retail Federation.
In New York, retail thefts are up more than 6.5% already this year, with almost 15,000 incidents, compared to the same time frame in 2023, according to the latest NYPD figures.
Councilmember Vickie Paladino said her district in the Queens borough of New York City has also suffered from shoplifting.
“We’ve got kids coming in on bicycles and just ransacking a store,” Paladino said in a City Council Committee on Small Business meeting, according to the New York Post.
“We can’t sugarcoat the fact that there’s rampant crime in the city that is preventing people from opening small businesses in areas that used to be nice places to go to,” she added.
She reported some businesses have told her they are “one step away from closing” due to a “shoplifting crisis.”
“We go into a CVS by me on the corner of the block of my office… I went in to buy a tube of toothpaste. It, of course, was locked up as everything is now,” Paladino said.
“But the store manager is keeping one tube of toothpaste behind the lock. It’s insanity,” she added.
A report released last month estimated that shoplifting cost retailers $4.4 billion in 2022 in New York state.
Thefts in New York City alone spiked 64% between June 2019 and June 2023.
“There’s a Walgreens one minute away from where I live that’s closing down due to retail theft,” Councilmember Oswald Feliz, chair of the Committee on Small Business, said.
“Anytime I speak to a small business that is literally the very first issue they bring to us,” Feliz said.
‘DOOM SPIRAL’
New York is not the only city struggling with retail theft, officials in are concerned over the crime rates they have seen in San Francisco, Chicago, and St. Louis, Missouri as well.
The high cost of these thefts leads to commercial and office buildings remaining empty and boarded up for long stretches of times, as retail chains try to offset their losses.
Retail experts have deemed it a ‘doom spiral’ the U.S. Sun previously reported.
This “real estate nightmare” of abandoned buildings in St. Louis results in raids by police and firefighters to search for squatters and missing people, according to the Wall Street Journal.
These raids have sometimes resulted in tragedy like when a search dog fell through an open window and died last year.
Another raid resulted in a fire breaking out that was caused by alleged copper thieves.
The largest building in the city, that towers at 44 stories and was once owned by AT&T, is now empty after it was sold for about $3.5 million, a massive drop when it previously sold for $205 million in 2006.
Another devastating blow to St. Louis’ once bustling business district was when Macy’s shut down in 2013, after 99 years in business.
Along with this loss came several other closures, including many offices, nearby shops, and restaurants.
Locals reportedly find the empty shops and restaurants depressing, resulting in fewer people commuting there which further exacerbates the issue.
While foot traffic to the city’s business district has improved somewhat in the last year, it’s at a slower rate than many other cities in the Midwest.
St Louis has also been losing residents since the pandemic, with the population dropping below 300,000 in 2020, a low not seen since the mid-1800s.
