Walgreens cited shoplifting as rationale for closing 5 shops in San Francisco, however native officers, information, and consultants solid doubt on that rationalization

Customers walk past products locked in safety cabinets at a Walgreens store scheduled to close in San Francisco, California on October 13, 2021. Photo by Justin Sullivan / Getty Images

• Walgreens said it was closing some stores in San Francisco due to an increase in retail thefts.

• Police data obtained from the Chronicle did not show high rates of shoplifting reports in the shops that were closing.

• An expert said people leaving town during the pandemic could harm Walgreens’ business.

Walgreens announced Tuesday that it would close five of its San Francisco locations for “organized retail crime” Saturday.

While the report says the chain experienced retail theft, other factors such as the COVID-19 pandemic and store oversaturation were cited as potential factors in the decision to close stores.

Walgreens spokesman Phil Caruso said retail theft at its San Francisco locations had increased five times the chain’s average in recent months, SFGate reported.

However, the data from the San Francisco Police Department received from the Chronicle contradicts claims made by Walgreens, as one of the stores slated to close since 2018 has only reported 23 shoplifting incidents per month since 2018.

“Organized retail crime remains a challenge for retailers across San Francisco, and we are not immune to it,” Caruso told SFGate. “To combat this problem, we have increased our investments in security measures in stores across the city over this time to 46 times our chain average to create a safe environment.”

San Francisco Mayor London Breed dismissed Walgreens’ reasons for closing the shops.

“They say (shoplifting is) the main reason, but I also think when a place is not generating revenue and when it’s saturated – SF has a lot of Walgreens locations across the city – so I think there are other factors coming into play “she told reporters last week.

The story goes on

Dean Preston, supervisor for San Francisco’s 5th District, which will be affected by a store closure, said the pharmacy chain was “out of the community” and had “long planned to close,” the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

“Weird that some would be so offended that I would suggest that a huge corporate chain shut down retail locations for the very reason they told investors they were going to shut down, rather than the reasons outlined in their external PR are specified, ”said Preston in a tweet on Friday.

In a 2019 filing by the Security and Exchange Commission, Walgreens announced it would launch a Transformational Cost Management Program that would close 200 stores in the US to save $ 1.5 billion annually through 2022 in spending.

A May study published by Stanford economist Nicholas Bloom found that 15% of San Francisco residents left and did not return during the pandemic, which the Chronicle says could explain Walgreens’ dwindling customer base in the city.

San Francisco has relatively high rates of property crime, which according to the Chronicle, criminal justice researcher Magnus Lofstrom may be due in part to the Bay Area’s enormous income equality.

Walgreens did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment.

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