A CVS pharmacy in Washington, DC, has switched to almost entirely using pictures, rather than actual items on shelves, to deter theft.
Conservative commentator Joey Mannarino claimed that the photographs he posted online came from a CVS pharmacy in Washington, D.C.’s H Street, where consumers had to press a button to have employees bring the merchandise out from the back.
The pharmacy’s dystopian move comes after a CVS store in Washington, DC, was robbed by as many as fifty teenagers who had become regulars at the establishment.
CVS has stated it will close 900 locations in the United States because of the rise in stealing, which the National Retail Federation estimates costs businesses $112 billion annually. The corporation plans to transfer most of its business online, away from prospective criminals and has announced that by the end of 2024, it will have closed 900 sites, or around 10% of its stores.
According to research from CapitalOne, retail theft cost businesses $86.6 billion in 2022 and is expected to rise to over $115 billion by 2025. UBS analysts have also forecast that at least 50,000 stores in the United States will collapse during the next five years due to rising theft and online shopping.
One hundred fifty of Rite Aid’s 2,100 US locations will also close. Walgreens is closing 150 shops by the summer of 2024 because of dramatically decreased business revenue. The pharmacy’s revenue dropped not just because of rampant stealing but also because of falling demand for Covid tests and immunizations.
From October 9-11, employees at over 500 of Walgreens’ 9,000 shops around the country went on strike, citing poor working conditions as the reason for their walkout.
Millions of people in the United States will soon live in “pharmacy deserts,” where they will have no easy access to the medicines they need because pharmacies are closing. Prescription delivery, mail orders, medication lockers, telepharmacy, and physician dispensing are all viable alternatives to pharmacy deserts.
