Washington supermarket could close because it lost HALF A MILLION dollars to brazen thieves – after Target and Whole Foods axed locations due to rampant crime

A grocery store in Washington DC is in danger of closing after losing hundreds of thousands of dollars to rampant theft.

A Giant Food store in Ward 8, a neighborhood on the border of Washington DC and Maryland, reported $500,000 in product loss due to shoplifting — about 20 percent of sales.

At a news conference earlier last week, DC Council member Trayon White said the store had spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on security upgrades — but thieves were encouraged to keep walking out of the store with their carts full of stolen items. He did not specify over what period the money was lost.

The Giant is the only major grocery store in the district and serves more than 85,000 people. If it had to close its doors, the area would become a food desert, depriving families of affordable or nutritious food.

It comes as retailers around the country are closing more and more stores – citing problems with organized retail crime and reduced foot traffic.

The store reported $500,000 in product loss due to shoplifting — about 20 percent of sales

“We know times are tough and we know that the price of food has skyrocketed over the last three years,” White said after talking to store managers.

“Well, we can’t afford to hurt ourselves by constantly getting something from the store, because I mean, everyone’s going to run out of food, and enough is enough.”

He added that the store had to arrest suspects 135 times.

The company has already implemented several shoplifting hurdles, including limiting store entrances and exits, locking items and limiting self-checkout to 20 purchases.

In a statement to The Washington Postthe store — one of 165 locations in Washington DC, Delaware, Maryland and Virginia — said it had no “current plans” to close.

“We have invested in numerous measures to mitigate the problem in this store and in many stores, but we also need the help and cooperation of the community and local officials to really combat the theft and violence that continues to escalate.” , a Giant spokesman said.

“However, we need to be able to run our stores safely and profitably,” the statement continued. “The reality is that theft and violence are common in this store, and getting worse, not better. This makes it increasingly difficult to operate under these circumstances.’

It comes as brutal theft is plaguing big box stores across the country – forcing them to close en masse.

Whole Foods’ flagship store in San Francisco closed in April just a year after opening — citing unsafe conditions for its employees.

The Giant is the only major grocery store in the district and serves more than 85,000 people

Organic food giant Whole Foods opened a new “flagship” location last year, but closed the store in April

Many other major retailers, including Walgreens, Nordstrom, Target and Walmart, also closed locations this year.

In addition to shoplifting, self-checkouts have also made it easier for people to walk out without paying for items. Items placed under lock and key are now commonplace in locations across the country.

By 2021, retailers lost a total of $94.5 billion to shrink, a term used to describe theft and other forms of inventory loss. And the number of organized retail crime incidents rose 26.5 percent in the same year, according to the 2022 National Retail Security Survey.