Target Closing 9 Stores Amid $112 Billion Retail Crime Surge
Target said it’s closing nine stores, citing retail crime as the reason for the move.
The big-box retailer will close stores in New York City, Seattle, Portland, Ore. and the San Francisco Bay Area. In a statement on Tuesday, Target said it “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.”
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Target invested “heavily” in strategies to combat shoplifting, from enhancing store security to hiring third-party guards and implementing theft-deterrent tools. The retailer locked up theft-prone merchandise, partnered with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) division and developed advanced threat intelligence capabilities to digitally track organized retail crime groups. “Despite our efforts, unfortunately, we continue to face fundamental challenges to operating these stores safely and successfully,” it said.
Target isn’t alone. Retail crime cost the industry more than $112 billion last year—more than 20 percent higher than 2021, according to the National Retail Federation’s latest security report.
Released Tuesday, data from a three-month survey of 177 retailers with over 97,000 U.S. locations showed that many merchants are increasing efforts to combat retail crime. Thirty-four percent have increased internal payroll to help mitigate risks, while 46 percent have hired outside security. Over half (53 percent) said they’ve invested in technology and software solutions over the past year.
Surveyed retailers said crime is getting more violent, too. Sixty-seven percent said they’ve seen more aggression from criminals compared with the previous year, and 54 percent are increasing employee training related to workplace violence. They are also attempting to protect their employees from becoming collateral damage. Forty-one percent of retailers said they take a “hands off” approach when it comes to confronting shoplifters, up from 38 percent last year.
“Retailers are seeing unprecedented levels of theft coupled with rampant crime in their stores, and the situation is only becoming more dire,” NRF vice president for asset protection and retail operations David Johnston said. “Far beyond the financial impact of these crimes, the violence and concerns over safety continue to be the priority for all retailers, regardless of size or category.”
NRF said many merchants are choosing to close stores as a way to deal with crime. More than one-quarter (28 percent) of NRF survey respondents said they, like Target, had been forced to close a store due to rising crime. Retailers cited San Francisco-Oakland, New York, Seattle, Houston and Los Angeles as the markets most affected by retail crime. Still more retailers (45 percent) have cut store operating hours to deter crime, while 30 percent stopped carrying some products altogether.
“Retailers are piloting and implementing a number of loss prevention practices to deter, prevent and mitigate these substantial losses,” University of Florida Research Scientist and Loss Prevention Research Council Director Read Hayes said. “In addition to enhancing traditional security measures, many are also allocating resources to innovative emerging technologies for future prevention.”
NRF and other retail trade organizations have long advocated for targeted policy reform. Illinois and California have eliminated the cash bail system, while several states have raised the felony threshold for retail crimes. This “may have unintended consequences for retail theft,” NRF wrote, noting that 72 percent of survey respondents reported an increase in average value per incident in places that raised minimum felony thresholds. Another 67 percent reported increases in repeat offenders in areas that ditched cash bail.
“Organized retail crime, habitual theft, and violence are significant challenges for retailers of all sizes, compounded by complex societal issues like mental health, addiction, and homelessness,” the Retail Industry Leadership Association (RILA) said in a statement Tuesday in response to Target’s announcement, which “lays bare the substantial problems that exist in communities across the U.S., and the tough decisions that many retailers currently face.”
RILA launched a partnership with the National District Attorneys Association (NDAA) in August 2022 to open lines of communication between prosecutors and retailers, giving them the opportunity to share knowledge about repeat offenders and identify criminal networks targeting local retail. “As part of that partnership, RILA recently launched the Vibrant Communities Initiative, a whole-of-community, holistic approach to addressing retail crime,” RILA said this week.
“Our goal is to better understand the underlying, systematic drivers of habitual theft and recidivism so that retailers can help communities craft an effective long-term response,” with the cooperation of stakeholders like law enforcement, prosecutors, social services and technology providers. RILA will pilot new tech tools that support the retail and law enforcement ecosystem, helping them to identify and arrest violent criminals while also developing methods to identify individuals who might qualify for diversion programs instead of prison.
“We know there is no one-size-fits-all solution, nor will there be an overnight resolution to the challenges facing retailers, law enforcement and local community leaders,” RILA said. “But our objective is to identify effective approaches that can be shared and applied across the country to enact long-term, systemic change in how communities can tackle this challenge.”