Not here! It’s just on the shelves at all the hardware stores and places like Home Depot.
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I think it is a state law here. You have to be 18 or 21 to buy it, and it’s been locked up for many years, even at places like Michaels. Not sure if Hobby Lobby even sells it.
NYC has required spray paint to be locked or behind the counter for a long time, and to not sell to minors. That goes back to Giuliani or Bloomberg.
California has also locked up spray paint for many years.
Dropping my daughter off at school in Boston last August, we made a Target run to get stuff that she needed, including laundry detergent, which was locked up. We pressed a button for an attendant to open the case for us, and it took a good 15 minutes for someone to show. It was a real pain in the neck. When theft and lawlessness get bad enough in a particular area, stores just pull up stakes and leave – and who can blame them. That’s what Target did recently with its store in East Harlem in NYC. As a result, the law-abiding people in the area have to find someplace else to shop, usually at greater cost and inconvenience.
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Target closed 4 of its 8 stores in Chicago last spring which caused a pharmacy desert in some neighborhoods. They’ve now closed a bunch in Portland and Seattle too. The one in the neighborhood in Minneapolis where the riots were never reopened.
In my neighborhood (well, just outside it), two Big Lots stores closed because there was just too much theft and not enough profit. there are others but they are much too far for me to go to for the things I used to buy there.
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Trying to think of some kind of cheap, tech solution. Maybe require photo of “buyer” and merchandise at exit?
Well…the electronic things like they have at lots of department stores. Items need to be scanned or they set off an alarm at the door.
Prices would definitely increase if every single item needed this…
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In Philly the thieves just don’t care. They walk in brazen as can be, with bags to put stuff in. No one is stupid enough to speak up- who wants to get shot over detergent? - and the laws are on their side. Locking up merchandise is really the only solution. Or just close the business, which is what many are doing.
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I don’t recall 4 Chicago area Target stores closing last spring and could not find through a quick google search, can you please provide a link- thanks.
A Philly Target is where I saw deoderant locked up. I was suprised! I waited a few minutes for an attendant but became so annoyed and walked out. I found a nice suburban Target without all those extra precautions. Like you said, locking stuff up is the only solution.
My mistake, it was Walmart in Chicago.
https://corporate.walmart.com/news/2023/04/11/walmart-announces-closure-of-four-chicago-stores
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One thing to remember…security can’t really stop a person who is stealing while they are IN the store. The shoplifter could easily say they had the stuff in their bag and were heading to a check out.
Security has to wait until the person leaves the store…and I’m wondering if that is why they just don’t do it.
If they don’t stop the shoplifter, it is corporate directive. And the directive may vary by location based, in part, on police / DA policy on arrest / prosecution
Maybe not inexpensive for the retailer upfront, but in the long-run… saw this story on the Today Show last week…
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A page with commentary on the subject from retail workers and thieves:
Another article blaming the victim (the retailer) rather than the perpetrators.
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Many years ago I had lunch with a friend I worked with during our college days at a place similar to the Gap (this was a decade or so after). She said, “Yeah, we were all walking out with merchandise. Shoes tied under our wide leg pants, shirts under shirts, jewelry, etc.” It had never occurred to me to ever do that. Wouldn’t have anyway but I suppose employee theft has alway been an issue.
We live in an area shoplifting/smash and grab is out of control (Coastal SoCal). More and more things are being locked up. So sad because I know I’ll be paying for it at the end of the day.
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I haven’t seen that problem where I live. But also, it’s legal to shoot someone to protect your property in Texas, so there’s that. Harsh as it may be, it definitely does the job. Merchandise is out in the open, and shoplifting is pretty rare, at least where I live.
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I think the vulnerability to shoplifting is more directly related to the political policies that cities like San Francisco, Portland, Seattle, etc put in to not prosecute shoplifters. So groups of people became more brazen and it became untenable to run stores there. Target recently closed a bunch of stores in those cities because the shoplifting was so egregious there, they can’t stay open. Those policies are a failure.
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