I noticed that all the big stores like Superstore and Walmart are now closing at 10PM instead of 11PM.
I thought it was due to post-pandemic slowdown and that traffic was not worth operating that late but in the past these stores used to open 24 hours at seasonal times as they have stocking activities and other staff going on all hours of the day.
Lately I found out from multiple sources that its actually because enormous levels of retail theft have been occurring during the later hours and this is just the latest tactic to try to contain this.
Shoplifting is at record highs. The previous measure was all the bars, gates, plexiglass, and even shutting of secondary entrances permanently to prevent entry and exit points for shoplifting (see Deerfoot Meadows Superstore).
From a Reddit post (and there are others on Reddit, RFD, and other social media):
Quote:
I work for Superstore. The main reason is the shoplifting and other crime that happens at night. We actually don't have a problem staffing the later hour, and we would actually make a decent profit (summer) or at least break even (winter) - except for the theft. Truly enormous amounts of theft is going on from about 8-11pm, with the worst happening from 10-11pm. We're not talking about people stealing here or there, or even desperate, hungry people. That's normal. We're talking organized rings of thieves that steal $500-$2000 a pop - and several of these a night. We're talking about thefts of all meat or clothing, vitamins, cosmetics, or expensive appliances. Some area drug dealers take stuff like that as payment in kind for drugs. There are also Facebook groups 100% devoted to selling stolen goods. And we're talking well-made forged receipts to "return" the stolen goods, usually for cash. When these shoplifters do get caught, arrested, and charged, they are usually back in our store within hours, trying to steal again.
The early closure is also for the safety of the employees. Staff have been physically assaulted, threatened with bear spray and knives - you name it. The violence is usually from the ones on meth. Staff have to deal with overdoses constantly from the ones on opioids. Over the winter is was daily, often more than once a day. In the summer it's at least a few times a week. I used to actually love my closing shifts and look forward to them. The stealing, the violence, and the ODs now make me dread them.
They tried the greeter. They tried the plexiglass barricades. They tried barricading all the closed tills so people can't easily get past. Now they're trying early closure. I truly hope they don't have to resort to closing grocery stores in the worst neighborhoods like they do in the US.
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Also, the reason for the self-checkouts always having multiple ones shut down is not because they are malfunctioning, but because policies require certain numbers of staff per self-checkout till to monitor them. There is also a full time crew in a side room watching all the self checkouts on camera.
I'm not sure what has changed in our society, likely the fallout from ever-increasing rents and inflation of food and drug addictions culminating in crime, desperation, and a general atmosphere of brazen lawlessness. There is also an ever-growing spate of organized crime utilizing flash mobs organized on social media to mass raid stores.