Ex-CEO sounds alarm about retail theft: 'Spreading faster than COVID'

[Leroy N. Soetoro]

https://nypost.com/2022/12/08/ex-ceo-bob-nardelli-warns-organized-retail-
theft-an-epidemic/

As big-name retailers like Walmart and Home Depot warn of rising retail
thefts this holiday season, two experts are predicting the surge “only
escalates from here” into an “epidemic.”

“Today, this thing is an epidemic. It’s spreading faster than COVID,”
former chairman and CEO of Chrysler and Home Depot CEO Bob Nardelli said
on “Fox & Friends” Thursday. “The degree of severity now, it’s not just
theft, it’s smash and grab. There’s an entitlement out there that if you
have it, you’ve worked hard to earn it. ‘I want it. I’m just going to take
it.'”

“It’s not so much the numbers, although the numbers are alarming, it’s the
manner in which this is going on and the implications for each community
and each store that this happens in,” business analyst and 7 Stage
Advisors president Carl Gould had noted on “Cavuto: Coast to Coast”
Wednesday.

“That’s where the major problem is, because this type of crime emboldens
other types of crime, and it only escalates from here.”

During an appearance on CNBC Tuesday, Walmart CEO Doug McMillon said theft
is “higher than what it has historically been.” He explained Walmart has
safety and security measures “that we’ve put in place by store location”
to help combat the issue.

“I think local law enforcement being staffed, and being a good partner is
part of that equation, and that’s normally how we approach it,” McMillon
added.

Walmart joins the growing list of retailers feeling the effects of raging
theft and crime across the nation ahead of the holiday shopping season.
Drugstore companies like Rite Aid, CVS and Walgreens have publicly cited
shoplifting concerns, as well as retailers such as Kroger, Target and Best
Buy.

The Home Depot also recently expressed it was “outraged” when an elderly
worker died after being shoved during a store theft in North Carolina this
fall.

While Nardelli called the tragedy “very, very unfortunate” and “sad,” he
put the onus on the Biden administration to get ahold on rising crime.

“Now it has elevated to the point where you’ve got Doug McMillon talking
about impacting earnings. And this is another silent contributor to
inflation,” Nardelli said. “Our associates are afraid. The retail
salespeople are afraid. Consumers are afraid. We’ve got to get control of
this. And if the administration doesn’t get control of this, they’re
abdicating it to the businesses, both public and private.”

In mid-September, the National Retail Federation found total losses from
shrink, a term retailers use for theft and other types of inventory loss,
increased to $94.5 billion in 2021. Organized retail crime incidents
soared 26.5% on average in the same year, according to the 2022 National
Retail Security Survey.

Gould pointed out that “most” of big retailers’ shrinkage can be
attributed to an “inside job from the employees,” but outside theft driven
by “opportunity” is forcing stores to showcase a high security presence.

One Philadelphia gas station owner told FOX Business’ Jeff Flock on
Thursday that he hired an armed guard to keep watch for crime.

“We are tired from all this nonsense: robbery, drug trafficking,
[racketeering], all kinds of [crime],” Neil Patel said. “I am fearful for
my safety, my employee, as well as my nice neighborhood. All customer[s].”

“It’s unbelievable what’s happening and what we’re allowing to happen,”
Nardelli reacted. “Again, unfortunately, the abdication is put in the
hands of corporations like Walmart, Target and the gas stations, for
example, that have to take control and protect their property and their
employees.”

Last year, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said the root cause of
the spike in organized retail crime was the COVID-19 pandemic, saying the
Biden administration was working with a number of communities across the
nation to “crack down” on crime in those neighborhoods.

But neither Nardelli nor Gould argued that the crime crisis has improved
since then.

“It used to be somebody would take a candy bar, there maybe was damage as
a result of shipment, there was misplaced inventory,” Nardelli detailed.
“But now, it’s just blatant robbery. It’s just blatant robbery. It isn’t
the small incidents that take place.”

Fox Business’ Aislinn Murphy and Daniella Genovese contributed to this
report.

Comments:

Sherwood4ust
8 December, 2022

Actions without consequences breed more of the same actions. Like cancer
if you don’t start treating it it will continue to grow?

AlanF
8 December, 2022

And America just voted for more cancer 3 weeks ago.

Looch
8 December, 2022

I predict a lot of retailers, big and small will shut down altogether.
Consumers will be left with very few choices, sourtesy of the Democrat's
soft on crime policy, it's emboldened criminals to walk in and walk out
with bags full of free merchandise. This epidemic of entitlement and ill-
gotten gains has to come to an end or we'll all continue to suffer the
consequences.

Dennis Lee
8 December, 2022

Criminals who watched Democrats riots and looting across US for over a
year, saw how much they can get away with, destroying and stealing over $2
billion in property.

Without much of a consequence.


--
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