Rampant shoplifting has driven some retailers to lock up items, which has many customers frustrated, a recent Inside Edition report found.
The outlet’s Lisa Guerrero visited several different stores and found numerous items behind lock and key.
“They locked up the underwear,” she said, pointing to a case with the underclothes hanging inside it. “And the socks,” she added.
According to Guerrero, the safety measure was creating frustration for buyers across the nation who simply wanted to get their shopping done in a timely manner.
During her report, Guerrero timed how long it took from the time she pressed a help button to when a store associate arrived to remove an item from a case.
Her team visited a Target location in Manhattan and tried to buy a tube of toothpaste. However, they had to ask for help several times, and it took seven minutes for help to arrive.
Guerrero and her team later went to a Walmart store in New Jersey, where they were forced to wait 15 minutes to get baby formula out of a case. They shopped for other items and reportedly spent 40 minutes buying three products and making it to the checkout counter.
In concluding its report, the outlet said it spoke with Target, and the company said it is “committed to combatting retail crime.”
In April, Breitbart News reported Walmart, Target, Best Buy, and other large retailers were closing some of their store locations across the country because they were suffering from rising thefts.
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Tiny-Remove-3734 / LOCAL NEWS X /TMX“In 2021, retailers lost a combined $94.5 billion from theft and inventory loss, according to the 2022 National Retail Security Survey. California has seen 35 retail outlets close, while New York closed 23 and Illinois closed 18. Florida also closed 21 stores,” the outlet said.
Some American retailers even resorted to fog machines to keep thieves from nabbing valuable merchandise, the outlet reported in September.
A Duane Reade drug store in New York City was forced to lock up its Spam due to inflation and criminal activity, according to a Breitbart News article from July 2022.
RELATED — CNN: San Francisco Walgreens We Visited Had Three Thefts in 30 Minutes, Stores Are Locking up Lotion, Coffee
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