Two Targets to close in Seattle due to retail theft (Redmond: apartments, how much)

[MechAndy]

I wonder if the shop owners, the customers and people in the area think it’s their fault that they are getting shorted when it comes to the simple things that they have a right to like protection and the presence of law enforcement.
Yeah, they all no doubt made the wrong choices and deserve what they get.
They probably should have picked a better spot right?

[leadfoot4]

Originally Posted by otterhere

Now it's considered "reparations." Buckle up!

Yes, it is, but that brings up the question, "reparations for WHAT"??? There have been dozens of "government programs", for dozens of years, that supposedly addressed that problem. How long is this mindset supposed to go on???

[Returning2USA]

Originally Posted by usernametaken

"The stores set to close include one in Harlem, N.Y; two in Seattle, Wash.; three near San Francisco and Oakland, Calif.; and three in Portland, Ore."

https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/t...190623263.html

Lawless Seattle.

Pay high taxes, get incompetence from pseudo-leaders in government.

[jabogitlu]

https://theneedling.com/2023/08/02/c...fety-concerns/

The Needling hits it, as always.

[southking500]

Originally Posted by jabogitlu

https://theneedling.com/2023/08/02/c...fety-concerns/

The Needling hits it, as always.

Keep fiddling Nero.

[jabogitlu]

I'm from Appalachia. I actually do fiddle pretty well!

[Mathguy]

Originally Posted by rjshae

I wonder how many more years we'll be dealing with the effects of COVID-19 and the BLM protests?

Depends whom gets to be the Mayor, aldermen and prosecutor and thus sets policy on how to deal with things like this.

The hidden part is that the closing are due to retail theft, while that is the base action the cost isn't just in goods but the insurance costs of assaulted employees and customers, higher premiums for riot, arson in some areas etc.

[Lodestar]

In 2007 I was living in Minneapolis doing some volunteer work. I noticed that a reputable clothing and household items store there had much poorer quality merchandise than the one in my small city which was the go-to place for quality clothing and wedding gifts.

Items were taken off the racks or shelves and tossed on the floor. Staff was lackadaisical. It was quite a shock compared to the more sophisticated experience I was accustomed to.

Shortly after it closed. Now the one we have has closed also. The last time I shopped there the experience had similarly degraded.

We no longer have a local anchor store.

[jabogitlu]

The bottom line is that for businesses like Target, Macy's, Dillard's, Banana Republic, etc., online commerce has drastically impacted net income and profits attributable to physical store locations. Margins in retailing are now very thin. There seems to be minimal ability to allocate additional operating capital to increased staff.

Additionally, less of this profit component means more difficulty in assuring in-stocks. Less items in stock over time contributes to fewer shoppers coming to the physical stores.

With fewer shoppers and lower staffing levels, the drug and retail fencing gangs move in.

So, as usual, it's a very complex issue, a true and comprehensive discussion of which must go beyond simply bleating that Democrats are stupid. But those kinds of discussions are beyond a lot of members that post here.

[Mathguy]

Originally Posted by jabogitlu

The bottom line is that for businesses like Target, Macy's, Dillard's, Banana Republic, etc., online commerce has drastically impacted net income and profits attributable to physical store locations. Margins in retailing are now very thin. There seems to be minimal ability to allocate additional operating capital to increased staff.

Additionally, less of this profit component means more difficulty in assuring in-stocks. Less items in stock over time contributes to fewer shoppers coming to the physical stores.

With fewer shoppers and lower staffing levels, the drug and retail fencing gangs move in.

So, as usual, it's a very complex issue, a true and comprehensive discussion of which must go beyond simply bleating that Democrats are stupid. But those kinds of discussions are beyond a lot of members that post here.

Ok, but if this is just on-line commerce then why are the closings clustering in many of the same places?

I mean you have cities like Miami or Dallas for example....but the closings have been in cities that have undertaken more severe police and prosecutorial reforms like Portland, Seattle, Chicago, San Fran.

I'm gravely concerned not by the retail theft as much as it being a symptom of general crime. Think about the people that live in cities that are the most impacted if someone busts their car window to steal from their car or mugs them and they miss 3 days work. Poorer, browner people are bearing the most pain from increased crime.