@[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.

@[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

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

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

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

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

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