Stores Closing, Sadly No Surprise

[oath2order]

If the debate is going to be political i.e. which party is responsible for crime or store closings then it belongs in the politics thread.
Go there.
Don't make me stop this car.
Otherwise steps may have to be taken.

No, he meant that the GOP debate is on now, as in, it started when he made that post.

 

[commiecorvus]

No, he meant that the GOP debate is on now, as in, it started when he made that post.

10-4.
I'm so used to things going haywire, it's a little hard to tell when it's a normal conversation.

 

[Florida Dawg]

Racists sure love showing their true colors on this forum, don't they?

Pulling the race card and automatically assuming I’m a racist, How cute and boring. Wake up and actually see what’s been going on in those cities and you’d understand why they’re closing.

 

[versionDefect]

It’s the truth but a lot of y’all don’t wanna hear that. This what happens when the government ran by radical Dems allow people to run rampant and not have police and security do their jobs to try and prevent it.

Are you genuinely thick lmao. absolutely no one made this about politics and you bring it in. You must be absolutely delightful in person.

Florida TM…. Makes sense lol.

 

[sunnydays]

there’s no statistical evidence that shoplifting crime is why these stores are closing and every time these big corporations say that shoplifting is a problem it turns out that it isn’t when they release their quarterly/yearly financial statements (e.g, the place they cannot lie)

idk why everyone keeps taking the two entities most likely to lie (fortune 500 companies & cops) at their word. kinda wild. how many times they gotta tell you lies to your face before you stop sucking down that smoke

 

[Dream Baby]

there’s no statistical evidence that shoplifting crime is why these stores are closing and every time these big corporations say that shoplifting is a problem it turns out that it isn’t when they release their quarterly/yearly financial statements (e.g, the place they cannot lie)

idk why everyone keeps taking the two entities most likely to lie (fortune 500 companies & cops) at their word. kinda wild. how many times they gotta tell you lies to your face before you stop sucking down that smoke

I couldn't find the link from what I read on the radio.

However they say shoplifting might be up at some stores because it is so much easier to sell them online than before.

I wonder if Target separates shoplifting as opposed to using stolen credit cards to quickly buy Target gift cards who then buy expensive electronics.

 

[sunnydays]

I wonder if Target separates shoplifting as opposed to using stolen credit cards to quickly buy Target gift cards who then buy expensive electronics.

they don’t, because the latter bit (which is effectively fraud anyway) doesn’t impact the business financials at a meaningful level

 

[Tessa120]

I would imagine that theft was a problem for these stores (ESPECIALLY the ones in CA, whew boy that state has problems) but it also wouldn't surprise me if there was much more going wrong behind the scenes. Blaming a store's issues on some boogie man issue has been done to death and it's not surprising that Target would do it too.

I will say though that my store is in a "nuisance area" (anyone's guess where) and I do get worried that too many people trying to steal/successfully stealing will make the store close in under five years. It'd be devasting, but not super surprising

Something to consider for CA, insurance prices have gone through the roof in that state. And it's getting harder to get insurance. So that's all added on top.

 

[sunnydays]

Why Is Target Closing Stores?

Data casts doubt on the company's implication that it's due to rising crime.

jasher.substack.com

here’s a great example using some data (with caveats of course) of how spot is absolutely full of shit

 

[Florida Dawg]

Are you genuinely thick lmao. absolutely no one made this about politics and you bring it in. You must be absolutely delightful in person.

Florida TM…. Makes sense lol.

Technically is a political issue being Target loves to promote the bs. Why I’m glad I don’t work for them anymore.

 

[BackupTL]

Pulling the race card and automatically assuming I’m a racist, How cute and boring. Wake up and actually see what’s been going on in those cities and you’d understand why they’re closing.

I'll chime in on this one. Without revealing too much of what my role is, I oversaw inventory operations in the Seattle market along with the inventory management and AP HQ teams.

The Small Formats in question (even the ones not closing) for this market are high theft, low margin. It's not that PD isn't making arrests or prosecuting thieves, rather that the volume has increased so much that it's not viable to stop all of it without significant payroll and asset investment.

The AP teams in this market have some of the highest apprehension rates in the company. Multiple stores in the market are in the top 10.

Moving onto speculation, it's likely because these stores are Small Formats. Full size stores in good locations offer much larger margins to handle things like this. SF stores only break even because of their low payroll investment and very specialized merchandising. It just makes more sense from a corporate perspective to kill off these locations rather than invest payroll into an AP team/store ops TMs that rival a standard store. Stores with similar rates of theft have an ETL-AP, APS, and multiple TSS. Most SFs don't even get ETLs beyond the SD, let alone a full AP team with an exempt leader.

 

[Captain Orca]

Simple yet honest question. I don't need any judgmental bullshit, just facts. Just how does an AP employee apprehend a determined shop lifter? If they lay a hand on the perp they run the risk of getting a 115 gr JHP to the center of mass or a 5 inch blade in the solar plexus. It ain't worth it.

 

[commiecorvus]

Simple yet honest question. I don't need any judgmental bullshit, just facts. Just how does an AP employee apprehend a determined shop lifter? If they lay a hand on the perp they run the risk of getting a 115 gr JHP to the center of mass or a 5 inch blade in the solar plexus. It ain't worth it.

Most shoplifters fall into 3 categories according to the training we got at the big box bookstore.
1. There are crimes of opportunity, mostly teens and folks who want makeup or manga who grab something because they see a chance. They aren't going to fight you and but might try to run.
2. There are the pros. People who make a living at it and see getting busted as a part of doing business. They won't fight you either.
3. The people who are doing it to feed a habit. This is where things can get complicated. Most druggies just want to get their fix and not don't want trouble but occasionally you get one that's a serious problem.

I'd say that now there is a fourth kind. Hungry people.
The rise in shoplifting for basic food is a bit shocking.

 

[Not My Name]

LMFAOOOO.

But also, I love how people instantly jumped to politics when in reality, these stores are most likely just not profitable and they closed them because of that.

Because announcing you're closing a store because of profitability is sounds a lot worse than blaming it on something "uncontrollable"

Most likely not profitable and it has nothing to do with theft? So you have access to the P&L statements or are you just pulling the speculation out of your ass because it adheres to your world view? You could be 100% right. You could be incredibly wrong. We don't know.

 

[Not My Name]

I'll chime in on this one. Without revealing too much of what my role is, I oversaw inventory operations in the Seattle market along with the inventory management and AP HQ teams.

The Small Formats in question (even the ones not closing) for this market are high theft, low margin. It's not that PD isn't making arrests or prosecuting thieves, rather that the volume has increased so much that it's not viable to stop all of it without significant payroll and asset investment.

The AP teams in this market have some of the highest apprehension rates in the company. Multiple stores in the market are in the top 10.

Moving onto speculation, it's likely because these stores are Small Formats. Full size stores in good locations offer much larger margins to handle things like this. SF stores only break even because of their low payroll investment and very specialized merchandising. It just makes more sense from a corporate perspective to kill off these locations rather than invest payroll into an AP team/store ops TMs that rival a standard store. Stores with similar rates of theft have an ETL-AP, APS, and multiple TSS. Most SFs don't even get ETLs beyond the SD, let alone a full AP team with an exempt leader.

So unless you are completely lying, there you have it. The theft very well may have been the straw that broke the camel's back.

And an argument can be made that they made bad business decisions by placing stores with such slim margins in high risk areas such as these in the first place, which of course they aren't going to publicize.

Still, if theft weren't an elevated issue in these areas, the stores sound like they would still be there, based on what you are describing.

Ultimately, without seeing the P&L statements or access to the high end conversations at corporate about each specific store we just don't know.

 

[sunnydays]

it’s definitely profitability (something theft only impacts on a meaningful level at small format stores) otherwise target wouldn’t be opening a new store in harlem a mile and a half away from the one they are closing.

 

[animalcrossing]

Most SFs don't even get ETLs beyond the SD, let alone a full AP team with an exempt leader.

My SF doesn't have an ETL but we have an AP TL and several AP team members. Not sure if that's different or what

 

[BackupTL]

So unless you are completely lying, there you have it. The theft very well may have been the straw that broke the camel's back.

And an argument can be made that they made bad business decisions by placing stores with such slim margins in high risk areas such as these in the first place, which of course they aren't going to publicize.

Still, if theft weren't an elevated issue in these areas, the stores sound like they would still be there, based on what you are describing.

Ultimately, without seeing the P&L statements or access to the high end conversations at corporate about each specific store we just don't know.

I've seen total sales/ad-ad comp/sales to goal but not total profitability (ex. MPM data). All I can say from that is the company definitely didn't see them as making money in the way they measure how a store is doing traditionally.

 

[He77CAT]

One store in San Fran had been losing $25,000 a day.... a day.... and that was reported back in 2021. EXCLUSIVE: Iconic Target Store on Mission St to Close Amid Shoplifting Tidal Wave – California Globe - https://californiaglobe.com/fl/exclusive-iconic-target-store-in-mission-district-to-close-amid-a-shoplifting-tidal-wave/

 

[flow4areasonuno]

With loss like that the AP department must be like a revolving door

 

[sunnydays]

One store in San Fran had been losing $25,000 a day.... a day.... and that was reported back in 2021. EXCLUSIVE: Iconic Target Store on Mission St to Close Amid Shoplifting Tidal Wave – California Globe - https://californiaglobe.com/fl/exclusive-iconic-target-store-in-mission-district-to-close-amid-a-shoplifting-tidal-wave/

this is the funniest thing i’ve ever read

you’re the cops. do something about it??

 

[Mikuhl]

The real reason target is loosing sales:

Guest: Do you have silverware?
Target: Yes, would you like them in neon pink, foliage mint, or lavender lilac?
Guest: You don't have any in.. silver?
Target: No...
Guest: Nevermind, I also need a charging cord though.
Target: deep teal, electric orange, or blush rose?
Guest: ... white?
Target: No...
Guest: ... a pair of sunglasses?
Target: PISS YELLOW, PUKE GREEN, OR POO BROWN?

 

[Ashfromoldsite]

I couldn't find the link from what I read on the radio.

However they say shoplifting might be up at some stores because it is so much easier to sell them online than before.

I wonder if Target separates shoplifting as opposed to using stolen credit cards to quickly buy Target gift cards who then buy expensive electronics.

You read something on the radio?????

 

[Dream Baby]

You read something on the radio???

You read something on the radio?????

😁😆😅

 

[Yaz Pistasio]

Are you saying you hate the organization or are you saying that you hate Black people? If you're going to be this way then put on your big bigot pants and show your true argument

Wow dawg didn’t say any of that….