In the latest glimpse into the abyss, retail giant Target announced it would have to shut down nine of its locations across four different states over ongoing reports of crime, theft, organized looting of stores, and the threats represented by those issues to shoppers and staff.
In Target’s announcement, it said that the stores would close effective October 21, with three stores in the San Francisco and Oakland area, three more in the Portland, Oregon area, and two locations in Seattle, and one store in the Harlem neighborhood of New York City will permanently close.
In its announcement, Target described the decision as “difficult,” saying, “At Target, we take the decision to close stores very seriously, and only do so after taking meaningful steps to invest in the guest experience and improve business performance. With that said, we have made the difficult decision to close nine Target stores across four states, effective Oct. 21.”
Continuing, it added, “In this case, we cannot continue operating these stores because theft and organized retail crime are threatening the safety of our team and guests, and contributing to unsustainable business performance. We know that our stores serve an important role in their communities, but we can only be successful if the working and shopping environment is safe for all.”
It then said it tried to address the ongoing theft issue but was largely unable to, saying, “Before making this decision, we invested heavily in strategies to prevent and stop theft and organized retail crime in our stores, such as adding more security team members, using third-party guard services, and implementing theft-deterrent tools across our business. Despite our efforts, unfortunately, we continue to face fundamental challenges to operating these stores safely and successfully.”
Continuing, the retail giant thanked its employees for trying to deal with the issue and said they would be given opportunities to move to new stores, adding, “The team members at these stores have worked hard to maintain our high standards by creating a positive working and shopping experience for each other, our guests and their communities. We are extremely thankful for their efforts and will be partnering closely with all eligible team members to offer them an opportunity to transfer to other Target locations.”
Ending, the statement said that there were still plenty of Target locations open, even in the general areas where the closures are taking place, writing, “Looking ahead, we remain committed to serving these guests with more than 150 locations open in markets where the closures are taking place and an always-open experience at Target.com.”
In addition to being bad for Target, already facing calls for boycotts over its Pride Month apparel, some of which horrified conservatives, this news is yet more negative news for the retail sector generally, which has seen immense losses from and problems with crime and looting in stores across the country, particularly “blue” areas like San Francisco, Seattle, and Portland. Closures and losses have followed in those cities as well, particularly in certain areas of San Francisco, where crime and bad government have led to a crash in real estate values and business activity.
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