The Walgreens store at 16th Avenue and Geary Boulevard started using chains and locks in the freezer section to protect food from being stolen. One employee, who chose not to reveal his name, told The Epoch Times the shoplifting happens 15–20 times every day.
“This year is the worst,” the senior employee told The Epoch Times, especially after the downtown Walgreens store closed.
According to the employee, the shoplifters include homeless people and drug addicts. Under company policy, he is not allowed to intervene.
In the store, two freezer sections filled with pizzas and waffles are chained with padlocks, beginning from one and a half weeks ago, the employee said.
Chains secure a freezer full of ice cream and other sweet treats in a Walgreens store in San Francisco, Calif. on July 18, 2023. (Lear Zhou/The Epoch Times)
Another food section adjacent to one of the chained freezers has been intentionally left empty. Employees chose not to fill the shelf with merchandise such as food, beer, soda, or toilet paper which is more likely to be stolen.
NEW: The Walgreens at 16th/Geary in San Francisco has chained up the freezer section ⛓️
— Betty Yu (@bett_yu) July 18, 2023
Workers said normally shoplifters clean out all the pizza and ice cream every night. They’re usually hit 20x a day. The whole store is virtually locked up. @KPIXtv
h/t @greenbergnation pic.twitter.com/lfFWmkLWdo
The senior employee explained that if store workers fill the shelves with merchandise, it will be stolen in 12–24 hours. On July 18, from the store opening to 11 am, there had already been five or six shoplifting incidents, the employee said.
Most other sections are also locked with plastic shields, but this measure has not been enough to keep things safe. The employee showed some plastic shields that had been burned away.
A close-up view of chains securing a freezer full of food in a Walgreens store in San Francisco, Calif. on July 18, 2023. (Lear Zhou/The Epoch Times)
“It’s a major inconvenience for the community,” Walgreens customer Justin Van Zandt told reporters outside the store.
Van Zandt said it’s not fair for everyday people to wait 10 minutes in line for a Walgreens worker to get merchandise.
“How disheartening and soul destroying, to be a worker who works all day for minimum wage, and you see some person come in, put a bunch of stuff in a sack and they’re [grabbing] like $500 [worth].”
They are not even from San Francisco, Van Zandt said. They are stealing $500 or $700 worth of merchandise and reselling it online.
[ZH: Of course, it's not just Walgreens...]
Night time trip to the CVS pharmacy to get medicines, and I witness police car in front called to scene because of thief. Of course many items locked up too like the frozen section! pic.twitter.com/Y2EAqeEPVs
— Tim (@Tim_I_Huang) July 18, 2023
Our Rite Aid in the neighborhood closed becos of excessive loss from theft. Is unfortunate that stores have to go to this extent to keep their stores open.
— Susan Ng (@sunshineca88) July 18, 2023
And all bathrooms at stores are either locked or code access only or have a sign that said not working.
Passed in 2014, Proposition 47 reduced the classification for shoplifting goods worth less than $950 from a felony to a misdemeanor.
Proposition 47 is often cited as a contributor to the theft problem in California.
