Mastodawn

Judd Legum Jan 12, 2023

1. For years, @[email protected] and other major retailers have been sounding the alarm about an alleged spike in shoplifting, describing it as an existential threat to their business.

The claims generated a MEDIA FRENZY

Now, Walgreens is quietly backtracking

https://popular.info/p/how-walgreens-manufactured-a-media

How Walgreens manufactured a media frenzy about shoplifting

For several years, Walgreens and other major retailers have been sounding the alarm about an alleged spike in shoplifting, describing it as an existential threat to their business. These dramatic claims generated a nationwide media frenzy. Now, Walgreens is quietly

Popular Information

Judd Legum Jan 12, 2023

@[email protected] 2. Just a year ago, @[email protected] blamed their lackluster earnings on “gangs that actually go in and empty our stores of beauty products.”

There was never actually any data to support these claims.

Judd Legum Jan 12, 2023

@[email protected] 3. The number of shoplifting offenses actually dropped dramatically between 2019 and 2021, according to FBI stats.

And @[email protected], the industry's lobbying group, found that "shrink" decreased from 1.6% of sales in 2020 to 1.4% in 2021.

https://popular.info/p/how-walgreens-manufactured-a-media

How Walgreens manufactured a media frenzy about shoplifting

For several years, Walgreens and other major retailers have been sounding the alarm about an alleged spike in shoplifting, describing it as an existential threat to their business. These dramatic claims generated a nationwide media frenzy. Now, Walgreens is quietly

Popular Information

Judd Legum Jan 12, 2023

4. "Shrink" covers more than just shoplifting. It also includes damaged goods and employee theft. "External theft" amounted to just 0.5% of sales across the industry in 2021, according to @[email protected].

Judd Legum Jan 12, 2023

5. Now @[email protected] is admitting that its rhetoric didn't match the reality.

Walgreens CFO James Kehoe told investors last week that Walgreens "cried too much last year" about shoplifting and spent too much money on private security.

https://popular.info/p/how-walgreens-manufactured-a-media

How Walgreens manufactured a media frenzy about shoplifting

For several years, Walgreens and other major retailers have been sounding the alarm about an alleged spike in shoplifting, describing it as an existential threat to their business. These dramatic claims generated a nationwide media frenzy. Now, Walgreens is quietly

Popular Information

Judd Legum Jan 12, 2023

6. According to @[email protected], total shrink in its last quarter was 2.5%.

Kehoe said he was "quite happy" with the number

We asked Walgreens how much of the 2.5% was due to shoplifting. The company didn't answer

It's likely that external theft @[email protected] amounts to <1% of sales

Judd Legum Jan 12, 2023

7, @[email protected] upbeat comments gloss over the company's role in fomenting a national panic over retail theft.

Mainstream gravitates toward sensationalist crime coverage

In this case, the media spread the drugstore chain’s dubious narrative, even though it wasn't backed by data

8. Since May 2021, the @[email protected] has published at least six stories warning readers of a spike in retail theft.

Other outlets published more over the same time period:

@[email protected] (13)
@[email protected] (7)
@[email protected] (18)

https://popular.info/p/how-walgreens-manufactured-a-media

How Walgreens manufactured a media frenzy about shoplifting

For several years, Walgreens and other major retailers have been sounding the alarm about an alleged spike in shoplifting, describing it as an existential threat to their business. These dramatic claims generated a nationwide media frenzy. Now, Walgreens is quietly

Popular Information

Judd Legum Jan 12, 2023

9. This frenzy has already had political consequences.

Legislators around the country, at the urging on industry, are proposing legislation to increase penalities

It drove the recall election of former San Fransisco DA Chelsea Bourdin

Judd Legum Jan 12, 2023

10. So shoplifting isn't preventing @[email protected] from being profitable, but it booked at $3.7 billion loss last quarter. Why?

The company took a $5.2 billion charge for opioid litigation, based on Walgreens' role in fueling the opioid epidemic by filling illegitimate prescriptions

Judd Legum Jan 12, 2023

11. For more independent journalism that holds the powerful accountable, subscribe to the Popular Information newsletter.

It's free to sign up.

http://popular.info/subscribe

Subscribe to Popular Information

Independent accountability journalism. Click to read Popular Information, a Substack publication with hundreds of thousands of subscribers.

Kimberly Marie Jan 12, 2023

@juddlegum odd how the media stopped talking about theft and inflation, right after the midterms.

Mako Jan 12, 2023

Walgreens is a joke. They set their retail prices obscenely high. I stopped going there when I became uninsured for a few months. They wanted hundreds of dollars for a generic, so I went elsewhere and purchased my Rx for $30.

When I tried getting my flu shot there while insured, I was told they did not accept my BCBS PPO (the most common insurance in town). So I got it elsewhere because they wanted $80.

Never going there again.

Peggy Stuart Jan 20, 2023

@juddlegum The #shoplifters actually work for #Walgreens ?

PrinceOfDenmark Jan 12, 2023

@juddlegum Shoplifting did increase dramatically in #SanFrancisco, and organized groups were busted. I saw shoplifting in progress that Walgreens staff (and onlookers like me) were helpless to stop because we knew there would be zero assistance from SFPD. Some theft I watched was by pairs of guys with duffel bags they were filling. Now stores lock up almost all goods.
Walgreens lied about what caused losses on this huge scale - but theft w/o consequences was real and widespread.

Gregory Hays Jan 12, 2023

@juddlegum *Chesa Boudin

Realworldrj Jan 12, 2023

@juddlegum as usual, for the nyt and the larger media ecosystem, narrative > facts (and specifically rightwing BS narrative)

Nancy M Ruff Jan 12, 2023

@juddlegum Seems to me that says way more about the state of journalism than it does about Walgreens.

JR 🏳️‍🌈Jan 12, 2023

@juddlegum The actual crime being committed is 'retail pick pocketing' which is huge problem with Walgreens and other retailers. Sadly we cant charge retailers for picking our pockets!