26 Stores are Leaving NYC… Because of Theft 

Imagine the rot in a society where a security guard is arrested for doing his/her job.

Security guards are getting arrested for trying to stop thefts is insane.

Eventually, once all the stores are gone,…those Amazon trucks will need some sort of armed-security-system, in order to get people’s stuff delivered.

I live in NYC. It’s hell on earth here . Stay safe everyone

Amazon doesn't have to worry about shoplifters because they've outsourced that problem (porch pirates) to their customers and local police departments.

You don't need a special task force to solve this. Just enforce the laws that already exist. Then stop punishing the ones engaging in enforcement and prevention.

It's mind boggling how the NYCPD will arrest people taking photos of their stations, but cannot arrest blatant fearless thieves

Friend's sister works as a manager at one of these stores. She saw someone shoving a bunch of items in his backpack. She went up to him and asked if he was gonna pay for those items. Then the guy just walked out. Afterwards, the higher ups called her in and asked her what she said to the guy. After she told them, they said "If we ever see you do that again, you're gone". This is the most bizarre timeline. I guess it's just insurance scam by these stores.

I saw this many times firsthand in my own neighborhood. Criminals stole so much from my local Walgreens in Queens (mgr reported it to be a minimum of 45K per MONTH!) They ended up closing the only pharmacy near me. NYPD would stop the criminals then they would fight the cops saying "just shoot me" as they were running out of the store with items (and not life essentials, but rather items to re-sell for drug money)---what is a cop to do? I wouldn't risk my retirement and freedom for a 'protected' criminal. If you vote for lenient laws (and judges) this is what you get. It's a disgusting city now. This behavior is almost everywhere because there is no upholding of the law. How does a society move forward when this has become the accepted norm? Disgusting way to live.

All the businesses should gather together and get into a class action lawsuit suing the city of New York for it's blatant disregard of their rights

Vote OUT politicians that blame the retailer and do nothing to hold the criminal accountable.!

I read somewhere that people out in Cali are breaking into train cars and stealing items from them effecting online retailers shipping. They may not have a budget for it, but theft and loss of property will catch up to them as well.

Until people are held accountable for their actions it’s only going to get worse. More stores closed. More crime.

I remember when I worked in retail like at Krogers and Blockbuster Videos, we did not play with shoplifters. We were allowed to take them down and drag them back to the store for them to get picked up by the police. I know if we did that now, we would all be arrested. Makes no damn sense, that the criminals more rights then hard working, tax paying, living right citizens. 😡😡😡😡😡

Once at Target, when my son was 6 (11 years ago) he unwrapped a Lego toy in the aisle and then proceeded to put it in his pocket (unbeknownst to me ). When I got to the check stand a manager quietly pulled me aside to let me know, and I was absolutely mortified. With a firm grip on my kid’s hand, and in front of other shoppers, I told the manager to please talk directly to my son right there about the actual consequences an adult faces when shoplifting. When he started to baby talk down to him about stealing I stopped him and said he’s old enough to know what stealing is. I said be real, and tell him exactly what happens. Where would he be taken? Who would show up? Would there be handcuffs? I could tell the guy was a little hesitant, but I was firm that he explain the whole process from detainment to getting to jail to court, etc., which he did. As embarrassed as I was, and in spite of the fact my son had tears in his eyes, I believe him getting caught was a good lesson for both my son and for me (on parenting). … Fast forward to last week, we were in Target and saw two women walk straight out the door with unpaid for merchandise. My son told the cashier as it was happening, but she said there was nothing they could do about it. They didn’t even notify a manager. What has happened to the social contract? Do we all just agree now that stealing is ok? I don’t understand what I’m seeing before my eyes.

The rotten fruit of deciding in the 1960s that we needed to move away from existing values.

I worked retail for a while. We were told to never try to stop shoplifters. The thieves could be armed, and nothing in the store is worth your life, or even just a limb/your health. They’d rather take an insurance hit on inventory than have to pay your family for you dying because they asked you to act like a cop.

When I was a Store Manager we tackled a drunk eating his way thru the produce area one night. We told him to just leave and he tried to kick us so down he went. The Cops came fast and dragged him out of the store by his feet. Those were the good old days..

I live in Massachusetts and work at CVS, the amount of theft I witness everyday is ridiculous. We are not allowed to do or say anything and the thieves know it. The pharmacy is short staffed and overworked and there's constant arguments from customers. I believe that the store is purposely being set up to fail and close

I am from Romania and I traveled around Europe extensively, the only time I have ever witnessed someone shoplift was when I was on holiday in the US, it was in one of these pharmacy/drugstores. The shoplifter was clearly a repeat offender, as the guard and another employee seemed to know him and they tried to get him out of the store before he could get out with the stolen stuff. They were very careful not to touch him, I felt bad for them because this guy was so BRAZEN about it and the employees looked like they had to deal with difficult and dangerous thieves like him all the time. If you don't want your society to crumble and you want your country to keep being prosperous, you NEED to do something about lawlessness, this is not normal. And keep shop employees safe, it's not only the criminals who have rights, it's also their potential victims, Western societies seem to forget that. Prison exists for a reason!

I worked at a Rite Aid for five years and shoplifting was the reason I left retail and customer service for good. I am a UPS delivery driver now and can't be more happier. Hang in there my Retail peeps, hope things get better soon.

CVS wanted $450 to fill a prescription I argued with them they said that was the best price..I went to Walmart next door and it was $10 no questions same drug.

Why do business in NY ?? If it isn't the criminals it's the prosecutors and judges 😮😮😮

The thought process behind not arresting people for crimes like shoplifting was that it costs too much money to prosecute and incarcerate them. What we are finally realizing that it actually costs more to not do it. Never mind the billions lost, but the jobs and the convenience that are lost with them.

One of the saddest consequences of all this is how it affects the elderly. Most are pretty computer savvy or they have someone to show them, BUT there are many who feel they should have the right to shop in person and have their prescriptions filled. As you said Cash, one of the reasons for living here is the ability to walk to meet your needs. I have a neighbor who is elderly and I order things for her online and bring them to her (yes, she reimburses me) but she misses browsing and spending some time in stores. Why are the law abiding being made to change their lives to accommodate the law breaking?

Not only are store's closing but new companies don't want to move in. You won't see the full effect for another year or two.

In Latin countries the businesses hire armed security guards to stand at the entrance. This could've been solved by just hiring guards. United States is always trying to be too politically correct and giving criminals loop holes and rights . Once a criminal breaks the law they should loose their rights to sue if they are attacked by civilians or guards.

I worked retail loss prevention for years. Most, if not all, major retailers do not want regular store staff, including management, to stop shoplifters. It's been that way for more than a few decades now. Why can't they? Liability reasons, lawsuits and injuries. The staff is not trained to make sure cases are good, nor are they trained how to handle themselves in what could be a dangerous situation. Unfortunately, the past five years or so has seen an increase in retail theft gangs carrying weapons and with no problem using them. That makes the job of loss prevention -- usually unarmed -- extremely dangerous. Companies recognize that the merchandise taken is not worth the life of an employee. We seriously need to make adjustments to the laws regarding the thefts. I'm loving your off-apartment content, Cash. However, I can only think you started it due to the fact that apartments are so scarce and overpriced in the city. But, still ... you're doing great covering other NYC issues!

That's a damn shame that this is happening, these people doing this are hurting not only the stores but everyone else

As long as thieves are not held accountable, these store closures will continue. Safe blessings, everyone.

I worked at Duane Reade myself for over a year, and the shoplifting was horrendous. We had to lock up half the store behind glass. Sometimes the customers would come in and complain because they had to wait for us to run all over the store to open the shelves for them like it was something we actually enjoyed doing. The worst thing is we were not allowed to stop anyone, and the crooks knew that. They were obnoxious and they knew they would face no consequences

If I were a business owner there's NO WAY I would operate a retail store in ANY urban area. If people in these areas wanna misbehave you treat them like children. TAKE THINGS AWAY!

With all the stores closing nationwide people will have to shop on line for everything 🙄

It's become a strange world where laundry soap is locked up as a "high value item".

People respond to incentives. If you disincentivize doing business, you will have fewer businesses. If you remove the disincentives to crime, you will have more crime. If you do both, you will have fewer businesses and more crime. This is somehow shocking to New Yorkers. Oh, and blaming retailers for not policing themselves is a genuinely evil take from a city that prosecutes the people like Jose Alba and Daniel Penny.

*What do people expect? If there are no consequences then a behavior continues. If there is no profit than a business closes. Period. It's not that hard to figure out! This is what people get with their lackadaisical, apathetic approach & attitude; when you justify, rationalize & excuse something by saying "it's just..." & letting someone get away with it, you're creating a permissive problem. Solution? Consequences; compliance is proportionate to fear of consequences - make the consequences severe.*

The powers that be know what they're doing by allowing this. I just haven't figured out what the outcome of their agenda is other than make everyone a criminal.

In the 90's shoplifters were stopped and arrested , in 2024 , guards get arrested for stopping shoplifters ....what is going on here , store owners cant protect its marchandise anymore , im confused here O.o

No laws, no boundaries, no morals. Ruin is the only result.

For the same reason, LondonUK shops are closing. There is mainly a particular race that is doing it!

I think this is going to make us collectively be pushed into membership only stores, where you have to sign up with your ID and stuff along with facial recognition. Thats what Fleccas Talks predicts.

I work as a security guard in a large urban metropolis. One thing always struck me as odd was how many female vagrants have hundreds of dollars worth of cosmetics on them. Wonder where they got that...... Food, Clothing no Vanity. Thanks Kim K.

Back in 1971 I helped my store manager detain a fellow who had just stolen a 10 cent Baltimore Sun newspaper. The judge sentenced him to 10 days in jail. Times have changed.

Politicians are to blame for all of this. Not only they downplay it and let it happen, but some even glorify and defend it. Even disabling and punishing law enforcement, and blame tax paying businesses for the crime. These people are just abject EVIL.

I would say these are not shoplifting or theft, these are robberies.

San Francisco is dealing with the same issues. When flawed ideology is not subject to reasonable scrutiny.

To be fair about Rite Aid, the company was a mess before the shoplifting epidemic. They buried themselves in debt when they bought Eckards and has been mismanaged ever since.

I'd hate to live somewhere I can't just pull something off a shelf and inspect it. Having to find someone to get something unlocked is just too many steps.

Thank you, well done. You have a new fan watching this happen in Chicago.

When stores say not to stop shift lifters it’s to keep their employees safe. Employees can get seriously injured or killed by shoplifters. I work at a big box store and I NEVER stop the regular shop listers I just report who it was.

Most of the new shoplifting isn't local teenagers pocketing some makeup. They're organized gangs. And online shopping is why. Thieves realized they no longer have the hurdle of fencing stolen goods, since they can just sell it direct on online marketplaces (ebay, fb, etc.) There is now great incentive to steal boring stuff like laundry detergent and shaving cream. Previously these were hard to offload, but now they can just sell it online to you and me. These online market platforms need to be held to account for this shoplifting wave.

That's part of the plan, no brick and mortar stores, all online shopping only

Thank you for another brilliant video. It must be Incredibly frustrating for citizens who really need these local resources. I do wonder where, will store retail be in New York in 5 years!

From my observation, almost all of the shoplifters have a common denominator. There is no reason for the NYPD to arrest shoplifters, they don't spend a minute in jail, never show up for court and continue to shop lift.

Much respect to you for continuing to provide journalism in a active warzone like NYC 😬

Cash. I have been watching you for 2 years. These non-real estate vidoes are incredible. Your transition from the best real estatge guy in the web to a fantastic "street journalist" (I dont know if that even exists as a title). Your videos are way more enlightening that CNN or any mainstream media. Kudos to you. Forgot to say thank you ... (edit)

Piggly Wiggly way back in the day had a pick system. The customer gave the list to the counter person and the order was filled, assembled, in the back and brought up to the front.

This is going to be a "BIG WIN" for Amazon and Smart Package Lockers

How can the mayor, being former NYPD, let this happen?

Japan is becoming similar now. Nobody calls police when someone is being attacked or the crime is happening. Worse is that people there just stand to gaze or even eager to take photos or videos in order to upload in social media. Totally insane mass.

NYC won't learn until nobody can shop anywhere

What happens when you're soft on crime...

You don't need a "task force" you just need old fashioned "force." Property is life.

It would probably help a TON if they just upped the punishment for stealing/shoplifting/package theves. Acturly have people look at security footage, and either give them a huge fine, or a prison sentence of say 1 year. It may seem harsh, but it will definitely discourage people from stealing and doing said crimes, knowing they cant just get away with it, and that it has a much harsher punishment.

I live in SE Asia. There are little pharmacies everywhere. Zero shoplifting because the customer has to ask the pharmacist behind the counter for stuff. Very effective for preventing loss from theft

It's not just the bad neighborhoods, it's anywhere. I live in Lower Manhattan's Financial District which is one of the most affluent parts of the whole city: our Target and CVS stores have about half of the items locked up in glass cases too. We're also seeing the Duane Reade locations closing down as well.

Stores will continue to collapse! Theft, inflation, Rent/Lease, mandatory hourly wage increases, etc....the squeeze is just too much

I used to work for cvs 8 years ago they had security but corporate decided to get rid of it because they kept getting law suits from thieves

Maybe NY will remember the "good old days" when Rudy was the mayor.

I worked 37 years in Super Markets and yes they will raise prices to make up for the loss. Self check out is the number one target for theft. Even WalMart and Kroger have admitted that.

Cash you are one of the top vloggers on this platform- you naturally have a good command of the camera and talking to your audience in way that’s Interesting and engaging- I love your expose type videos on the status of NYC.. just as much as I love the apartment vlogs! Have a great day and stay safe my friend!

Many stores closed during the Covid pandemic 😷 Driving downtown 1 out of 3 stores are closed. Most get what they need on line and delivery is by Uber. No where is safe anymore. This is in California a town of 63 thousand

Some might argue that New Yorkers got exactly what they voted for. Personally, I still feel for them.

All they have to do is enforce the laws

when the people we hire to keep our cities safe refuse to do their jobs and take out the trash, its up to us as citizens of this once great country to pick up the slack, take the trash out ourselves, and help make it great again.

If you work for those retail stores like Target, low wage, not a lot of fun. It’s stressful and always multi-tasks for stocking, cashiering, deal with angry customers for returns and refunds, the worst part is you can’t trust anyone, your managers or your co workers, products are missing all the time. And you may lost your jobs because the companies want to shut it down.

11:53 At my Costco, they do have some self checkout lanes. However, they still have workers there who ask you for your ID before going to the self checkout register and you still have to show your receipt at the exit door. Such a well-run company.

Situations that fuel shoplifting: increased drug sales and use in the vicinity of these stores; high rents reduce consumer spending; low salaried New Yorkers resort to shoplifting to obtain necessary goods.

Shoplifting has always been an issue in NYC, but it seems to have grown since I left. It exists in layers. There are the petty thefts of needing something before payday. There's the compulsive ones. In my old neighborhood of the East Village, there were the junkies who did the Macy's to Bloomingdale's run, ripping off designer clothes to sell to their regular customers. They usually met up in the local watering hole. Considering them and non addicts doing it to pay their bills, that's a lot of theft. What this very good video didn’t include (maybe another video in itself) is employee theft. This happens in the stores and delivery trucks. That's where the expression falling off the truck comes from. These hot goods of all types used to show up in the midtown office where I worked. This must really be even bigger now, due to the outrageous cost of living. NYC has always been a hustle town, but it's got to be on steroids now. These thieves can't be stereotyped. The junkies shoplifters in my old neighborhood were white and middle class looking. They come in all races and ages. It beats me what can be done about it in NYC. They're more easily caught in smaller cities where the police aren't stretched as much.

Excellent video. Two comments. I used to work the front end of a Home Depot many years ago. We were discouraged from trying to physically stop shoplifters. You could verbally try to confront them, but if the shoplifters were determined to walk out with merchandise then you were to let them go and call the police. Officially Home Depot said this policy is solely to protect the safety of employees, but in reality it has everything to do with liability issues if either or both parties get injured in a physical confrontation. I’m sure most stores have policies that prevent employees from stopping shoplifters purely for insurance liability purposes. They don’t want to get sued if the shoplifter is injured. Also working in the front end of Home Depot showed me that self checkout machines are the worst things to have when it comes to inventory shrink. If companies are really serious about combatting shoplifting, then they’d get rid of self checkout, hire more cashiers, and force customers to interact with a human cashier before departing the store. A well laid out, adequately staffed store can go a long way to mitigate shoplifting. But obviously the criminal justice system has to do its part in deterring people from wanting to shoplift in the first place.

Dramatically higher prices on most items than other stores, eliminating 24h service, and obviously poor security protocols have destroyed the drug chain stores and their foundation.

WTF are some images blurred out? I know to hide the identity of those robbing the store, but I guess they are the victims here.

I went to a CVS in Washington DC last month to get my BP medication and after waiting 45 minutes in line I was given the wrong dosage. I always check my medicine before leaving the pharmacy, so when i spoke to the pharmacist she said "We didn't have your dosage so I gave you the higher dosage and you can just break the pills in half." The average wait at this pharmacy, after getting a robocall saying your meds are ready, is 45 minutes.

I used to do overnight at security at CVS. The companies truly don’t care and the NYPD truly doesn’t care to fill out reports and actually arrest these bums. I’ll never forget one day I stop the cop who was buying a beverage while someone was upstairs wiping out the laundry detergent, the officer told me to call 911 and continue to pay for his items.

So when all these stores are closed where will these bastards move on to next?? That's the real elephant IN THE ROOM

In our branch of Costco in the UK there are security guards checking on both the entrance and the exit. Nobody gets in without their ID card and all your goods are checked against your receipt on the way out, if Costco can manage it then why aren’t the big stores following suit? The stores will need to employ proper security but the government laws need to change to allow security to do their job accordingly.

Main issue with self checkout is lack of staffing. One, maybe two associates per like 5-6 self checkout machines. Same is true for Walmart stores. You can't expect one person to monitor every single item being scanned, confront thieves, and stop retail theft. Catching them on camera is great but what's the point if you're not going to prosecute.

It's appalling that a few criminals, who know that nothing will happen to them, are ruining shopping & convenience for the 99+% of people. Until NY (and my state, CA), get serious about dealing with criminals, this is just going to get worse & worse. In CA, Target doesn't allow it's workers to stop anyone from shoplifting. They've instructed the police departments to only detain &/arrest if the criminals aren't in front of the store. Then, even if arrested, they don't even get booked! They're cited & released. It's beyond ridiculous. Time for new governors, mayors, & prosecutors!

The reason for the store policy of employees not being allowed to confront thieves is probably liability. If somebody gets hurt, employee or thief, they open themselves up to a lawsuit because the employee hasn't been "trained" to deal with physically stopping thieves.

I refuse to shop at Amazon for anything that has to do with toiletries, Such as shampoo. They have a huge counterfeit problem because they are commingling their items with fake items, so legitimate products end up in the same pile as real items and are sold as a real product. Becuase of this, you might order shampoo or toothpaste that has a real label but it might be something that someone swapped out or cut down in their basement with something cheap or that they mixed together so they could make a quick prophet. They aren't doing anything about it and it's why I end up shopping Walmart for said items. It's going to suck if these storefronts stop selling these things becuase I even feel uneasy shopping at Walmart for those products, considering the icecream sandwhich from Walmart that never melted that was going around the internet a few years ago.

As a black woman, I’m noticing a pattern and since everybody is scared to call it out and correct it this will never change.

As a pharmacist, thank you for talking about this, Cash.

LOVE your channel, dude !!! 👍👍👍👍👍

If the cost of living and the job market was as prosperous as the politicians are saying, then this wouldn’t be happening. The U.S. could say we aren’t in a recession but everyone living here knows it’s been getting progressively worse since 2019.

What makes it scary is i watch videos where people commit obvious crimes, but they themselves do not Believe it's a crime. So I'm going to assume that is happening here as well. The people stealing didn't see it as wrong and they keep in doing it despite what it may do to their community, and they never are going to hold themselves accountable

And now Adams is cutting the budget - the NYPD getting cut so that there are less police on the street to take care of the problems. No consequences so thugs being thugs is to be expected. What a shame! The same thing is happening in Chicago. Our magnificent mile is becoming the malicious mile. SMH

Sometimes I shop at a local Walmart in a Chicago suburb in Northlake.. I would by a facial wash there. Last time I went, all the products were locked in a glass. This theft issue is everywhere. People refusing to pay for something small are making it hard for everyone. It’s ridiculous.

ty for this update great stuff to know and follow and we need to protect theese stores for our medical needs

I guess I will never understand the mentality of people that shoplift. I am 66 yrs old and sometimes I run out of food at the end of the month. I would never think of stealing food from the grocery store. And I certainly wouldn't be stealing non- food items. Our society is such a sad state.

My father was a pharmacist and he has nothing good to say about how the big chains (CVS/Walgreens/RiteAid) treat their employees--like chattel. He is surprised that it took this long for pharmacists to initiate a labor action. I am in southwest Washington State and there are several (mostly CVS) that only have pharmacists in stores for a couple of days a week. Understaffing is not confined to just the support staff. The chains also do anything they can to underpay pharmacists, to the point that pharmacy programs at colleges are seeing a steep decline in enrollment--WTF is the point of spending 8 years on a very technical degree in order to have very limited employment prospects (oligarchy in retail pharmacy is a thing) working for companies that intentionally treat their key personnel like shit. The chains are cutting their own throats in order to (presumably) boost bonuses for high-level executives and board members. What the chains are doing is not boosting shareholder value--not that the ones getting the bonuses give a fuck.