The retail chain Target announced the closing of nine stores in major cities across four states, blaming theft and organized retail crime that made the environment unsafe for staff and customers – and unsustainable for business.
According to the company, they struggle to contain store crimes that have hurt their bottom line.
The company will close stores in New York City, the San Francisco Bay area, Portland and Seattle, explicitly citing retail theft as the driving factor for the closures.
“We cannot continue operating these stores because theft and organized retail crime are threatening the safety of our team and guests, and contributing to unsustainable business performance,” the company said in a press release.
Despite “adding more security team members, using third-party guard services, and implementing theft-deterrent tools,” the challenges with crime persisted.
The stores in question are listed below.
- New York City:
- Harlem: 517 E 117th St. (96 remaining stores, over 20,000 team members)
- Seattle:
- University Way: 4535 University Way NE
- Ballard: 1448 NW Market St., Ste. 100 (22 remaining stores, nearly 4,000 team members)
- San Francisco/Oakland:
- SF Folsom: 1690 Folsom St.
- Oakland Broadway: 2650 Broadway
- Pittsburg: 4301 Century Blvd. (32 remaining stores, over 6,400 team members)
- Portland:
- Galleria: 939 SW Morrison St.
- Powell: 3031 SE Powell Blvd.
- Hollywood: 4030 NE Halsey St. (15 remaining stores, more than 2,500 team members)
As per Target CEO Brian Cornell, the retail theft was “a worsening trend that emerged last year.”
“The problem affects all of us, limiting product availability, creating a less convenient shopping experience, and putting our team and guests in harm’s way,” Cornell told CNBC.
The company is allying with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Homeland Security Investigations division, because as they stated, “While we will continue to make meaningful investments throughout our business, we cannot solve this issue on our own.”
They did not comment whether the stores were under-performing or reaching their revenue goals, but said they expected to lose $500 million this year due to rising theft.
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