California supermarket installs metal exit gates to prevent shoplifters from raiding groceries

A California supermarket desperate to stop the constant shoplifting that plagues parts of the state has installed giant metal barriers at exits to stop the thefts.

A Safeway supermarket in Vallejo, California, recently added metal emergency exit gates in front of one of its entrances that warn that an “alarm will sound” if shoppers or shoplifters try to leave the building.

CBS reporter Betty Yu also said the Vallejo store has closed a second entrance and other locations are following suit to deter thieves from stealing.

Some Safeway locations installed exit bars months ago, when a customer took to Twitter to show a store going to extremes, blocking closed checkout lanes with large metal gates, as well as paths leading out of the store with obstacles.

“Bars everywhere, multiple security guards. You have to scan your receipt to open the gate to get out, and if you don’t buy anything, an employee has to open the gate to let you out,” one Twitter user commented in February about an Oakland Safeway store.

DailyMail.com has contacted Safeway for comment.

Shoplifting and theft have been a huge problem in San Francisco as it is overrun by homeless people and drug addicts

Many California cities have experienced high crime rates and homelessness as liberal policies have done little to solve the problems. That has caused people to leave the state and hurt economic activities in some city centers, including San Francisco.

San Francisco has been hit hard by big businesses packing their bags after the streets have been overtaken by the homeless and drug addicts, leading to an increase in crime.

Tourism is down 16 percent from pre-pandemic levels, workers have left their offices to work from home and stores are emptying. Instead, about 7,000 homeless people have settled in downtown and tourist traps.

San Francisco’s once bustling Union Square and downtown area is a shadow of its former self: rows of empty stores, sparse crowds even on busy weekend shopping days, and nearby hotels — including a massive Hilton — unable to pay their mortgage payments.

The historic Flood Building, a survivor of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, stands mostly empty: Gap has gone with almost every other business in the property, with the exception of a tired branch of Dr. .

An Oakland store has installed gates on every checkout lane that is closed to apprehended shoplifters

Gates and bars have also been placed at the entrances to force customers to go through checkout lines to exit

Signs tell customers that an ‘alarm will sound’ if customers use the exit

On Market Street is the soon-to-sell Westfield San Francisco Center – the doorways reek of urine and every store is manned by hulking security guards. Westfield announced his planned departure on Monday, and several mall residents have already said they will follow suit.

Days later, AT&T announced that its iconic flagship store around the corner at 1 Powell Street, one of the largest in the country, would be closing permanently.

The local Walgreens branch is boarded up, though still open, and was recently the scene of a fatal confrontation between a homeless trans woman and a security guard.

Ross Dress For Less and Saks Off 5th have a one-in, one-out system to deter thieves, while Nordstrom Rack will close completely in September — along with its sister Nordstrom and a host of other stores like T-Mobile and Payless Shoes.

Edward Liu, 49, a local resident and hospital worker told DailyMail.com: ‘A lot of shops are closing, a lot of hotels are closing. ‘In the city center you no longer get the figures because many people work from home.

“Homeless people don’t make people want to stay for sure — it’s just not very attractive.

Theft is up nearly 15 percent in San Francisco, while overall crime is down 6.7 percent

‘They shit, they pee in the street. They use drugs on the street. The mayor does nothing and it has been that way for a long time.’

Commercial realtor Mark Ritchie told DailyMail.com that San Francisco had suffered particularly badly from the rise of remote work, which has reduced traffic in the Financial District and Union Square.

He said, “The office market in San Francisco is devastated. It has had the worst backlash from Covid and remote work due to the technology-oriented economy in the Bay Area.

“San Francisco is one of the hardest cities to commute to downtown, so the remote working crowd is even more of a drag.”

Theft is up nearly 15 percent in San Francisco, while overall crime is down 6.7 percent.