Written by Mackenzie Tatanani, Dailymail.Com
Updated October 27, 2023 04:19, October 27, 2023 04:21
- Inside Edition’s investigation reveals huge wait times for products like body wash and razors
- The team consistently waited approximately 10 minutes after requesting assistance from an employee to unlock the glass case.
- It took me a whopping 40 minutes to buy three items at a Walmart in New Jersey.
Shoppers are being forced to wait up to 40 minutes to buy basic necessities such as baby formula and body wash as major retailers lock up items to combat soaring theft rates.
Inside Edition reporters visited five Target stores, five Walmart stores, and five CVS stores in New York and New Jersey and measured the time it took for employees to remove various products from glass cases.
Journalist Lisa Guerrero said when she walked into a Target in Manhattan, “everything was locked.” There, powdered milk, razors, detergent, and other items were stored under strict conditions.
“They locked my underwear,” she said jokingly. “And socks.”
The camera panned past a line of customers waiting near product cases.
The Inside Edition team tried to buy toothpaste and hit the help button three times. An employee showed up seven minutes later and found her key didn’t work.
The team waited more than 10 minutes to buy vitamins in another aisle.
A customer who was standing outside the store said he waited for help for about 13 to 14 minutes before “giving up”.
At CVS in Manhattan, wait times were much shorter: 30 seconds for body wash and just 30 seconds for razors.
But at a Walmart in New Jersey, the team asked for help three times to get baby formula, but the manager was forced to apologize for the 15-minute delay.
This was followed by a wait time of 24 minutes for the electric toothbrush, which took a total of 40 minutes just to purchase three items.
People on social media have been reacting strongly as well since retailers began blocking large numbers of products.
Earlier this month, a Boston doctor took to TikTok to slam policies Target has put in place to crack down on theft.
Emily Long claimed her $8 body wash was kept behind glass, even though more expensive items were left behind.
“So I could get La Roche-Posay for like $40 or whatever cosmetics they had lying around, but my $8 body wash would be my deodorant, my husband’s body wash, his razor, my target… Like the basic things I went to buy, they were locked up,” Long said.
In April, a Target spokesperson told DailyMail.com that organized retail crime is a concern for the company.
“We are taking proactive measures to deter and prevent theft while keeping our team and guests safe,” the spokesperson said.
“These mitigation measures include hiring additional security personnel, adding third-party security services at certain locations, and using new technology and tools to prevent theft of merchandise.”
In late September, the company announced plans to close nine stores across the country, citing increased crime and other safety concerns.
Just last week, two stores in Seattle, three in the San Francisco-Oakland area, three in Portland, and one in Harlem, New York, permanently closed.
“We cannot continue to open these stores because theft and organized retail crime threaten the safety of our teams and customers, and are contributing to unsustainable business results,” Target said in a news release.
“We know our stores play an important role in our communities, but we can only succeed if our working and shopping environments are safe for everyone.”
Other businesses are also taking creative measures to combat theft, including the Atlanta Walmart scheduled to open in May 2024.
The site will include an on-site police substation or mini-station that will serve as a shoplifting deterrent and work space for officers.
Concerns about theft are an ongoing problem for the grocery giant. In December, CEO Doug McMillon admitted that theft had become a major problem for the chain.
He said the company has been forced to implement new safety measures in various locations, but stressed that he believes local law enforcement is the primary solution to the growing problem.
“I think part of that equation is having people in local law enforcement and being a good partner, and that’s usually how we approach it,” he said.
“It’s the store managers who work with local law enforcement, and for the most part we have a great relationship there.”
Target CEO Brian Cornell acknowledged in May that the theft had cost the chain millions of dollars.
The company expects to incur an additional $500 million in theft losses this year, on top of the $750 million in losses incurred in the previous fiscal year. That means losses could exceed $1.2 billion by the end of 2023.