Walmart has found itself bleeding profits for the last few years. Their insistence on changing how people check out, price hikes due to inflation, and consistent hiring of part-time workers who just don’t care about the bottom line have cost them dearly. With retail theft on a massive rise for the conglomerate, they are now bracing for store closures and further price hikes across the board.
CEO Doug McMillon spoke with CNBC about the problems on December 6th. “Theft is an issue. It’s higher than what it has historically been. If that’s not corrected over time, prices will be higher, and or stores will close.” He went on to explain that much of the theft in question is largely confined to specific cities and locations. Despite having an excellent relationship with local police departments, many prosecutors are reluctant to pursue charges, and it only makes the theft increase.
He’s not alone in these feelings. Target CFO Michael Fiddelke spoke with Fox Business about their 50% surge in theft that resulted in a loss of nearly $400 million back in November.
“This is an industry-wide problem that is often driven by criminal networks, and we are collaborating with multiple stakeholders to find industry-wide solutions. Along with other retailers, we’ve seen a significant increase in theft and organized retail crime across our business … As a result, we’re making significant investments in training and technology that can deter theft and keep our guests and store team members safe.”
For many retailers, this is just the tip of the iceberg. As the left continues to push its message of “sympathy for all” to the masses, more criminals are just walking away from their crimes and being able to continue their lives with little to no repercussions. This has made for a very dangerous message and has forced numerous small businesses to shutter. Many after decades of service to their communities.
Even in California, people like Democratic Governor Gavin Newsome have seen the effects of his horrifically shortsighted approach to crime. He has admitted that the gangs have turned downtown Los Angeles into a third-world country, and the level of crime is only making his state weaker. While he has yet to hear the pop, and remove his head from his backside, the reality of these liberal programs is slowly sinking in.
Sadly, unlike generations past, there is nowhere to escape this crime. When the gangs are chased out of one area, they just set up shop someplace else. They don’t change their ways, rather they just bring their criminal mindset with them, and continue what they were doing in the first place all over again.
Crime like this has been making our entire country a mess and seeing Walmart finally biting the bullet and admitting that it’s too much should be a sign to everyone that the experiments from the liberal left are only making things worse. Yet, McMillion and other leadership at Walmart are still raking in their big bonuses and making decisions that only encourage theft.
Their introduction of massive self-checkout registers and the removal of all but one or two cashiers has turned Walmart into a safe haven for criminals. They have no way to ensure that people are paying for their products properly before exiting the self-check station. As many have suggested, and in some cases proven, they have no legal standing to make you wait while someone checks your receipt against your purchases.
By pushing the self-checkout down the throats of Americans, Walmart opened the door for people to steal by not ringing up items, falsifying bar codes, or other methods of theft. The days of them sneaking into dressing rooms, or just running out the door and getting attention for it is over. In essence, they did this to themselves. Just like the citizens do when they vote Democrats into office.
