A Massive Chain Now Shutters Stores Due to Theft

January 9, 2024

A massive chain now shutters stores due to theft and rising threats to its staff according to several retailer news reports.

Walgreens has been forced to close a major location ten days earlier than expected due to the increase in theft.

“Unfortunately, Walgreens on Teutonia and Capitol Dr will be closing sooner than previously scheduled,” Milwaukee’s District 1 Alderwoman Andrea Pratt shared in a post on community networking platform Nextdoor.

The store was originally meant to close on January 15 but instead shut its doors for good on Friday, January 5.

“Employees have been threatened and theft has ramped up, so they have decided to close effective tomorrow for employees’ safety,” Pratt continued.

The location is the third in Milwaukee to close since October.

Older citizens have shared their frustrations as the next closest Walgreens is a 40-minute walk from what once was the Capitol and Teutonia location.

Duane Gordon said he is worried about how he will get his medication.

“Most of us don’t have transportation to get to the Walgreens down on 76th Street and the other ones,” he told local NBC affiliate TMJ4.

“This one is essential. Walgreens, they’re making a bad choice.”

Another frustrated customer, Jessie McAttee, also relied on that Walgreens location for medication.

McAttee said she had been recently diagnosed with glaucoma and cataracts, so she “doesn’t see very well.”

“I come here and get my medicine, my heart medicine, my asthma medicine, so I really don’t know. I got to make plans. I said maybe I should try Pick ‘n Save,” she told TMJ4.

A Walgreens spokesperson told TMJ4 that they take several factors into account before closing a store, such as the local market and consumer behavior.

But Donnie Kelly, a frequent shopper at Walgreens, believed retail theft to be the main factor in the company’s latest location closure.

“People steal every day in Walgreens. They just take stuff and walk out,” he told the outlet.

According to the Milwaukee Police Department’s calls for service statistics, as shared by TMJ4, officers have responded to 59 complaints at this store alone since the start of 2023 for business checks, shoplifting, and thefts.

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A massive shoe retailer is now closing locations after store employees said the business was “priced out” after a rent increase.

The Journeys in the Arnot Mall will be closing on January 20 after the company announced plans to shutter 100 stores, reports The-Sun.

Select staff will be transferred to other Journeys locations.

The store is located in Horseheads, which is about two hours south of Syracuse.

The manager said the closure was disappointing and the employees are like family.

There is no closing sale because all the merchandise will be transferred to nearby locations.

This comes after Genesco, which owns the shoe store, announced it would close 100 stores and move away from malls.

In May, it was initially estimated that only 60 locations would close after net sales dipped 7% due largely to a 13% decrease at Journeys.

Genesco expects to save up to $40 million from the closures, reports Retail Dive.

Now the company plans to shift the store’s presence away from malls.

“We still have work to do, but we are so far encouraged by the early reads and believe this initiative will represent a key element in Journeys’ growth moving forward,” said Genesco CEO Mimi Vaughn during an earnings call.

The JCPenney in the Shenango Valley Mall also fought to stay open for years but is set to close in the next few months.

The two businesses had been in a legal dispute for years because the mall wanted to evict the retailer and renovate the property, which is located in Pennsylvania.

JCPenney sued the mall and the court eventually ruled in favor of Butterfli Holdings LLC, the owners of the mall.

It was the last anchor store in the mall after Macy’s and Sears closed in 2017.

The closure of retailer stores continues to be a developing story — for more news and updates like this, opt-in for push notifications.

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