A CVS pharmacy in Washington DC has been forced to replace almost all of its inventory with photos in an effort to combat widespread shoplifting.
According to photos shared, framed images of items like toilet paper and kitchen towels take the place of the real thing Xwhile customers have to press a button to ask staff to retrieve the products from storage.
“Is this how we live in America now?” questioned conservative commentator Joey Mannarino, who shared the footage. ‘This is the third world!’
The pharmacy’s dystopian move comes just weeks after a CVS store in DC was looted by about 50 teenage looters, who routinely attack the store and plunder its shelves.
Amid the shoplifting crisis, CVS has joined rival drugstore chains Rite Aid and Walgreens in closing more than 1,500 combined stores in the coming months.
Framed images of goods including toilet paper and kitchen towels have replaced the actual items on the shelves of a Washington DC pharmacy
Customers must press a button to ask staff to retrieve products from storage in a dystopian attempt to combat rampant shoplifting
Mannarino said in his post that while American pharmacies may seem “third world,” he had a very different experience on a recent trip to Spain.
Drawing a comparison to the empty shelves at the CVS, he said, “I was in Barcelona, Spain, a few months ago and saw Mac laptops in the middle of the store.”
The commenter also shared an image of a display full of MacBooks in the open air, asking, “Where did America go wrong?”
CVS has announced it is closing 900 stores in the U.S. due to the wave of shoplifting, which the National Retail Federation estimates is costing the industry $112 billion a year.
Mannarino included an image he took during a trip to Spain, drawing comparisons between MacBook laptops left out in the open due to strict U.S. barriers against shoplifting
CVS said the decision to close 900 locations, about 10 percent of all stores, by the end of 2024 is part of its strategy to move much of its business online and away from potential thieves.
The strategy has been fueled by a series of disturbing incidents, including the fatal shooting of CVS store manager Michael Jacobs, 49, in September by an accused shoplifter in Arizona.
And routine looting at a CVS in Washington DC has revealed shocking images of entire shelves cleared by gangs of children, who reportedly target the store every day.
“If you walk into this CVS, you would think the store is closing because there is hardly anything on the shelves,” Fox 5 reporter Sierra Fox told viewers.
She added that only a lone guard was stationed there at the time, who was no match for the dozens of lawless teenagers.
“I asked an employee what gets stolen the most, and they just laughed and said ‘everything,’” Fox continued.
‘A large group of children, about 45 years old or older, come in before school, after school and late at night to steal chips and drinks.
“They even throw the food and drinks on the ground and stomp on them, leaving a big mess.”
Desolate shelves greet visitors to DC’s CVS, which is routinely cleared out by shoplifting kids on their way to or from school
Entire parts of the store have been stripped of products by shoplifters
Encapsulation in ice was necessary to prevent these sad looking waffles from being eaten by the teenagers
Jared Stevey, 38, left, is accused of fatally shooting CVS store manager Michael Jacobs (pictured right with his wife Stacey and children)
Due to the routine shoplifting that occurs across the country, data is out CapitalOne research Estimated stores had lost $86.6 billion to shoplifting by 2022 and predicted that shoplifting could cost stores more than $115 billion by 2025.
Analysts at UBS have also predicted that at least 50,000 stores in the US will close over the next five years due to the increase in theft combined with the move to online shopping.
The shoplifting crisis has hit pharmacies across the country, with rival franchise Rite Aid saying it will also close 150 of its 2,100 stores in the US.
The pharmacy chain filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy this month as they lose millions in stolen goods and struggle to settle hundreds of lawsuits accusing them of complicity in the opioid crisis.
Walgreens also plans to close 150 stores by summer 2024, citing significantly lower operating revenues.
In addition to rampant shoplifting, the drugstore lost revenue due to declining demand for Covid tests and vaccines.
Employees at more than 500 of Walgreens’ 9,000 stores nationwide went on strike from October 9 to 11. They said they walked out because of deteriorating working conditions, which put staff and patients at risk.
However, the problem is far from limited to pharmacies, with Target blaming shoplifters for its decision last month to close nine stores in the crime-ridden cities of Oakland, New York, Seattle, San Francisco and Portland.
“We know our stores play an important role in their communities, but we can only be successful if the working and shopping environment is safe for everyone,” the company said in a statement.
With a large number of pharmacies set to close in the near future, millions of Americans will be left in ‘pharmacy deserts’ without immediate access to medications, according to JAMA Network.
“According to our estimates, approximately one in four neighborhoods nationwide are made up of pharmacies,” said Dima Qato, an associate professor at the University of Southern California. The Washington Post.
“These closures disproportionately impact communities that need pharmacies most.”
TelePharma healthcare company, said solutions for pharmacy deserts include prescription delivery, mail order, prescription drug safes, telepharmacy and physician dispensing.