Businesses across the country have been hit by crime this year, including retail behemoth Walmart. As shoppers flock to stores this holiday season, even Walmart’s CEO has warned that crime must end this month or consumers could see higher prices and even store closures.
“Theft is a problem. It’s higher than it has historically been,” Walmart CEO Doug McMillon told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” earlier this month. He added that unless the crime wave is stopped soon and prosecutors bring charges against shoplifters, “prices will go up and/or stores will close.”
The National Retail Federation reported earlier this year that crime has hit retailers nationwide this year, becoming a $100 billion problem. Walmart competitor Target this year reported a 50 percent year-over-year increase in shoplifting incidents, causing $400 million in losses.
However, some criminals have become more creative and daring than just stealing a few items, relying on well-known and well-known stores like Walmart.
WALMART CEO DAG MCMILLON SAYS THEFTS ARE “HISTORICALLY HIGHER.”
The Walmart logo is seen outside a store on August 15, 2022 in Burbank, California.
(Robin Beck/AFP via Getty Images)
This month, a pair of Pennsylvania residents were arrested by police for their involvement in a multi-state Walmart crime spree that left the store with at least $25,000 in losses.
Police were called to a Walmart in Clearfield, Pennsylvania on Dec. 5 and arrested 37-year-old Tammy Koch, who is accused of repeatedly filling shopping carts with items ranging from children’s clothing to computer accessories and walking out the front door. shops. Police also arrested 21-year-old John Setser, and authorities say there are other suspects in the case.
“They’re making stores more self-checkout with fewer employees. Self-checkout is where the most theft happens.”
Koch allegedly filled a shopping cart with merchandise, then passed the cart to Sester in the self-checkout line to bypass store security and then simply walked out with the merchandise.
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In another case last month, a couple managed to confuse a Walmart cashier and stole more than $6,000 in merchandise and gift cards, according to officials. They allegedly tricked a cashier with a cart full of high-value merchandise into paying with multiple credit cards, then allegedly asked the cashier to use a “cash” button to activate the credit card. The sale was made as a cash payment, so no cards are accepted.
In Georgia, suspects tricked a Walmart cashier into walking out of the store with thousands of dollars worth of merchandise.
(District of Columbia Sheriff’s Office)
In Texas, a man described by local police as a “wizard” managed to steal $2,700 from Walmart cashiers in two separate incidents in January and February with a “quick change scheme.”
The scheme is that when criminals use large bills for inexpensive items at the cash register and the cashier returns the money, the criminal pockets some of the money and tells the cashier that he miscalculated. The cashier then counts the money again and makes up the difference the thief already took.
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Walmart employees and customers have recently cited self-checkout lanes as contributing to an increase in theft. Unscrupulous people have reportedly taken advantage of the lack of controls at self-checkout aisles to transfer unpaid merchandise to their carts and walk out of stores.
Young woman using touch screen to check.
(iStock)
“Theft at my store is horrible,” an anonymous Walmart employee in Spokane, Washington, told Insider this month. “If the corporation really got down to the store level and talked to the actual employees who are dealing with theft, they might see how to fix the problem.
“They’re making stores more self-checkout with fewer employees. Self-checkout is where the most theft happens.”
A Walmart spokesperson told Insider that the store is “constantly exploring effective ways to protect merchandise, keep prices low, and provide a safe environment for the millions of customers we serve each week.”
Theft isn’t the only crime that happens at Walmarts.
“You have to be very careful when you go in there, especially this time of year. Take a few extra seconds to look around. Get to know your surroundings and who and what’s there.”
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There have been at least three shootings at Walmart locations in the past month, including a mass shooting by a Walmart employee.
Chesapeake, Virginia Walmart supervisor Andre Bing shot and killed six employees at the store in November. The big box store had investigated Bing for his strange behavior two years before the tragedy.
“Andre did a lot of weird things,” former colleague Nathan Sinclair said, according to the New York Post. “Andre was an aggressive man.
Authorities say 31-year-old Andre Bing killed six people at a Virginia Walmart where he worked before killing himself.
(Chesapeake Police Department)
Days after the Virginia shooting, a 17-year-old boy was shot and killed in a Walmart parking lot.
On December 7, gunfire rang out near the auto repair center of a suburban Atlanta Walmart. Two groups of people were reportedly fighting at Walmart and one person was shot.
“Parking lots are the wild west of the retail market,” safety consultant and former police chief Mike Jones told WRIC after the death of a 17-year-old boy in Virginia.
“You have to be very careful when you go out there, especially this time of year,” Jones said. “Take a few extra seconds to look around. Get to know your surroundings and who and what is there.”
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We reached out to Walmart about security measures, but did not receive a response at the time of publication.
Walmart in Salinas, Calif., April 8, 2014.
(iStock)
Walmart has a number of security measures in place to prevent theft and violence, according to a review of its website. The company has teams of security analysts who work to identify threats and vulnerabilities in its stores, as well as investigators who investigate crime and fraud and security risk managers who assess stores.
“We have security measures in place, store-by-store security measures. I think having local law enforcement and being a good partner is part of that equation, and that’s how we generally approach it,” said Walmart CEO McMillon in an interview with CNBC. he added.
The holiday season is often the busiest time of year for retailers, and Walmart had its biggest holiday season sales of more than $150 billion last year. For Walmart this year, US consumer sales during the week of Black Friday rose 6 percent year-over-year.