The U.S. Crime Surge
The Retail Impact

Store Crime Has Local Leaders Waging War on Dollar Stores
Cities across the country are pushing back on dollar stores in part because of crime

As Dollar Stores Proliferate, Some Communities Say No

More than 70 proposed dollar stores have been rejected since 2019, a report shows. It’s a small number compared with those that opened but evidence of opposition to the industry.

There is a movement of municipalities across the United States that have pushed back against the dollar store industry’s rapid growth during the pandemic.

Since 2019, at least 75 communities have voted down proposed dollar stores, while roughly 50 have enacted moratoriums or other broad limits on dollar store development, according to a new report by the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, an organization that is critical of corporate retailers and their impact on communities.

By comparison, from 2015 to 2018, about 25 communities voted down proposed dollar stores while only six enacted moratoriums or ordinances limiting their growth.

Rural, Republican-leaning communities in places like southern Virginia and North Carolina are pushing back against dollar stores. (In 2020, President Donald J. Trump easily carried Morgan, Minn.) And leaders in cities like Toledo, Ohio, and Birmingham, Ala., have also mounted opposition, saying the stores are fueling crime and unhealthy food choices. Across Georgia, 18 cities and towns have restricted dollar store development, according to the think tank’s report.

Ms. Cochran-Johnson, a Democrat, was elected to the ommission in 2019. The next year, she persuaded the commission to pass a moratorium on dollar store developments in DeKalb County.

The moratorium ended in December, but the county is putting into effect new requirements for dollar stores, including that they install video surveillance in their stores and parking lots and turn over security camera footage to the police within 72 hours of a crime.

Regarding the issue of crime, Dollar Tree said, “We continually invest in deploying proven crime-reduction technologies in stores located in higher-crime areas and use risk-based analysis and tactics to reduce incidents in our stores.” The company added that it turned over surveillance footage whenever law enforcement requested it. nytimes.com


Walmart Crime Closure?
Some shoppers say Walmart is closing an Albuquerque store over rampant crime

The Albuquerque Police Department reportedly had 708 calls to service at or near the store in 2022.

The San Mateo Boulevard store is set to close on March 10 after opening in July 1985, according to Walmart spokeswoman Lauren Willis. The store has 287 employees, all of which are eligible to transfer to another store in the area.

Walmart did not answer questions about whether crime rates at the Albuquerque location were responsible for the decision to close it. But Albuquerque police officers had their hands full with the store in the past year. The Albuquerque Journal reports that 708 calls were made requesting police service at or near the store in 2022.

"There is no single cause for why a store closes," Willis told Insider. "We do a thorough review of how a store performs and weigh many factors before making the difficult decision to close a facility."

She added that the Albuquerque Police Department "has been a great partner and we are extremely appreciative of their efforts to combat crime at this store."

The Walmart is one of at least eight stores closing soon across five states and the District of Columbia. These closures come months after Walmart President and CEO Doug McMillon warned in December that select "stores will close" if high theft rates didn't slow down.

The San Mateo Boulevard store itself is located in Albuquerque's International District, which has been called by locals the "War Zone" for decades due to high levels of criminal activity. businessinsider.com


Mall Shootings Prompt Apple Store Closure
Apple Shutters Store in North Carolina After 3 Shootings in 75 Days

Northlake Mall in Charlotte, North Carolina saw a third shooting incident in 75 days

An Apple store in Charlotte, North Carolina saw its doors closed permanently on Wednesday, following three nearby shootings in three months, Bloomberg reported. The store in Northlake Mall was open for business in the morning, before staff were told that the location would be closing immediately, people with knowledge of the matter told Bloomberg.

The previous night, the mall suffered its third shooting in 75 days – and second in February – according to local news station WSOC-TV.

Nobody was injured during the incident outside a Macy's store, police said, nor was anyone hurt after a single shot was fired on February 5. An incident on December 15 outside a jewelry store in the mall, however, saw a 19-year-old charged with attempted murder, per WSOC-TV.

The Northlake Mall Apple store's website says it is "temporarily closed" at the top. A statement reads: "In preparation for a new store we plan to open in the Charlotte area early next year, we will be permanently closing Wednesday, March 1st at 4pm."

Plans for that new store were underway before the shootings, Bloomberg reported, but people familiar with the situation told the outlet that the recent violence contributed to the decision. businessinsider.com


New Mexico's Retail Theft Bill Update
Editorial: Get retail theft bill to governor’s desk

“There’s no question that organized retail crime is having a detrimental impact on the bottom line for New Mexico businesses, especially small ones. This cowardly crime also means higher prices for New Mexican consumers – it’s time to crack down on organized retail theft.”

— Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, Jan. 30 news release

Our governor was channeling every retail business owner and every law-abiding customer in the state when she announced her support of House Bill 234, which will target the plague of theft rings that send folks out to steal $499.99 over, and over, and over again.

State Attorney General Hector Balderas made the case for HB 234 last year, saying “it is more profitable now to go and steal from our local retailers than it is to sell drugs and guns in New Mexico.” He told KRQE-TV “what’s occurring is you have major drug dealers sending out armies of shoplifters into these retail centers, and they’re stealing these goods and exchanging them for fentanyl and other drugs.”

So it is heartening that so far, our state lawmakers are listening and voting to finally protect our businesses and our consumers. As Terri Cole, president and CEO of the Greater Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce says, “employees are scared and employers feel helpless.”

HB 234, sponsored by Albuquerque Democrats Marian Matthews, Natalie Figueroa, Antonio Maestas and Speaker Javier Martínez, has been honed to focus on aggregating the crimes so these repeat shoplifters are charged with felonies, not misdemeanors, and on the coordinated and planned gang element of the crimes.

The bill is headed to the House floor, where it deserves swift passage. Ditto for the Senate.

The governor has made it clear she sides with business owners and consumers on this one, that no one should feel scared and helpless in the face of rampant retail theft. Let’s get HB 234 to her desk and take back our retail operations, for N.M. business owners and consumers. abqjournal.com


Record-Breaking Theft Across the Globe
Record retail theft puts pressure on Australian supermarket giants
Retail theft has hit record levels in Australia, government statistics show, putting pressure on grocery giants Woolworths Group Ltd and Coles Group Ltd that are already struggling with soaring supply costs and freight blockages.

Store theft rose 23.7% in New South Wales, the home state of a third of Australians, from 2021 to 2022, state government figures showed on Thursday, the fastest year-on-year increase since records began in 1995.

Queensland, Australia's third-largest state, had the highest monthly rate of shop stealing on record this January, according to publicly available police data.

The data underscores concerns raised by analysts and social researchers that surging living costs - from grocery shelf prices to power bills to mortgages - will drive up crime. That may impact profit at Woolworths and Coles, which together ring up two-thirds of Australian grocery sales and noted rising store theft in trading updates last month.

"Supermarkets operate on very thin profit margins. You only need a small change in the stock loss to have an impact on profitability," he added. Supermarkets refer to goods lost to theft, expiry or payment error as stock losses.

Woolworths and Coles declined to comment. On a Feb. 22 earnings call with analysts, Coles Chief Operating Officer Matt Swindells said the company was experiencing "elevated theft" and was investing in staff training and technology to counteract it.  reuters.com


'Crime Doesn't Pay': Chicago Violence Sinks Mayor's Re-Election
Lori Lightfoot's critics sound off on Chicago mayor losing re-election

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot, a Democrat, lost her re-election bid Tuesday night, and critics are celebrating the end of her term.

Under Lightfoot, Chicago has seen soaring crime rates, which became a theme of her opponents' criticism. In 2021, homicides in Chicago rose to their highest numbers in 25 years, outpacing other crime-ridden cities like New York City and Los Angeles.

Throughout her tenure, the mayor has been blasted for her poor relationship with law enforcement, as the city's police department lost a significant number of officers in recent years amid the rise in crime.

After the mayor's defeat, critics wasted no time in expressing their pleasure on Twitter that Chicago will soon have new leadership, touching primarily on the city's crime wave.

Gianno Caldwell, a Fox News political analyst whose brother was killed in Chicago last summer, wrote that the Lori Lightfoot "experiment" is "officially over. Thank you, CHICAGO."

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., wrote, "Lori Lightfoot. Crime doesn't pay."  foxnews.com


NYC agrees to pay up to $6 million to hundreds of protesters roughed up by the NYPD during George Floyd demonstrations

WS Chamber Public Safety Roundtable covered police training, crime trends and more
 

 
How COVID Impacted Business Budgets
Reconsidering Financial Budgeting after a Pandemic

Business budgets might not look quite the same after COVID-19. With these tips, companies can get back on track with their budgeting in the post-COVID world.

After years of dealing with the impact of COVID-19 on their budgets, companies are beginning to get back to a sense of normalcy. Businesses may be able to stick more closely to their budgets, but creating a budget in the post-COVID world might look a little different than it did before.

1. Know Your New Normal - Across every industry, major adjustments were made due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Some of those changes may be scaled back, while others are here to stay. New health standards, work-from-home options, online shopping offerings, and supply-chain adaptations may become permanent solutions for businesses. When building a budget after COVID-19, businesses must determine what the new normal is and how it will affect cash flow moving forward.

2. Forecast, Forecast, Forecast - With some pandemic-related hardships in the rearview mirror, forecasting can enable businesses to take a look at past performance and anticipate how to get through economic uncertainty that may loom on the horizon.

3. Rebuild Your Emergency Fund - When it comes to an emergency fund, size matters. Plan for major events with a large enough fund to cover expenses for several months.

4. Payback Is a Cinch - Be sure to understand what needs to be paid back and whether forgiveness guidelines have been met. Decide the best way to pay back debts.

5. Be Realistic - Using more conservative estimates for revenue and growth can keep goals more in line with reality. This is an opportunity to look at where the company is headed. cpapracticeadvisor.com


The Post-COVID Lockdown Retail Comeback in China
From condoms to cosmetics, China sales grow as lockdowns end
The world's top consumer and luxury goods companies have seen sales of everything from cosmetics to condoms grow in China since Beijing ended strict COVID-19 curbs, another sign that the world's No. 2 economy is reviving after the pandemic.

Upbeat comments on Wednesday from Reckitt Benckiser, Nivea-maker Beiersdorf, Moncler and Puma came after data showing China's factory sector grew in February at the fastest pace in more than a decade.

"After a very volatile January, with traffic still heavily impacted by the release of COVID restrictions in December, we see a clear turnaround in retail sales starting in February," he said in a briefing for analysts. reuters.com


FBI director says COVID pandemic 'most likely' originated from Chinese lab
"The FBI has for quite some time now assessed that the origins of the pandemic are most likely a potential lab incident in Wuhan," Wray told Fox News in an interview that aired Tuesday. "Here you are talking about a potential leak from a Chinese government-controlled lab."

FDA authorizes first at-home test for both COVID and the flu

Troops discharged for refusal of vaccine now have pathway to rejoin military