Post by abbey1227 on Jan 11, 2023 4:33:01 GMT
Fox News
NYC grocery stores consider locking up food due to rampant theft; workers are 'traumatized'
Matteo Cina Tue, January 10, 2023 at 4:09 PM CST
Shampoo, toothpaste, and razor blades are all items that grocery stores have increasingly started locking behind counters. Soon, that list might include food.
"People have no fear of coming to your store and stealing," said Nelson Eusebio of the National Supermarket Association.
"Our employees are terrified," Eusebio continued. "We have young people that come to work, young cashiers who work part-time, these kids are 16-17 years old. They're traumatized."
The National Supermarket Association represents independent grocery stores in New York City. Its statistics show that 30% of its membership has left the city over the past few years.
New York City has been host to a spree of "serial shoplifters," men and woman who make a regular habit of bursting into stores, stealing as much as they can, and leaving. This has resulted in over 4,000 grocery stores calling for prosecutors to set bail for repeat thieves and to make assaults on retail workers a Class D felony.
"Everything that is cosmetics, shampoo, baby formula is behind the counters. It's going to be more and more of that happening," Eusebio says. "We're going to have an environment where everything is behind the counter and the shopping experience is just going to be gone."
NYC grocery stores consider locking up food due to rampant theft; workers are 'traumatized'
Matteo Cina Tue, January 10, 2023 at 4:09 PM CST
Shampoo, toothpaste, and razor blades are all items that grocery stores have increasingly started locking behind counters. Soon, that list might include food.
"People have no fear of coming to your store and stealing," said Nelson Eusebio of the National Supermarket Association.
"Our employees are terrified," Eusebio continued. "We have young people that come to work, young cashiers who work part-time, these kids are 16-17 years old. They're traumatized."
The National Supermarket Association represents independent grocery stores in New York City. Its statistics show that 30% of its membership has left the city over the past few years.
New York City has been host to a spree of "serial shoplifters," men and woman who make a regular habit of bursting into stores, stealing as much as they can, and leaving. This has resulted in over 4,000 grocery stores calling for prosecutors to set bail for repeat thieves and to make assaults on retail workers a Class D felony.
"Everything that is cosmetics, shampoo, baby formula is behind the counters. It's going to be more and more of that happening," Eusebio says. "We're going to have an environment where everything is behind the counter and the shopping experience is just going to be gone."
The industry is banding together to form a coalition called Collective Action to Protect our Stores (CAPS).
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