‘Barron’s Roundtable’ panelists discuss calls of a breakup for CVS prompting a strategic review.
One liberal columnist believes that CVS’s anti-theft measures are alienating customers.
Washington Post contributing columnist Matt Bai argued Monday that the drugstore chain’s efforts to prevent rising theft may be killing profits more than theft itself.
“As you might have read, CVS and other pharmacies have been struggling to contain a rise in thefts by gangs of fast-moving thieves. Unfortunately for CVS, the solution might be worse for business than the organized shoplifting,” he wrote.
In recent years, CVS and other similar drug stores have experienced a rise in frequent, organized theft, especially in major U.S. cities where crime has risen.
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Man pressing button for employee assistance at locked merchandise, CVS store, Queens, New York. (Photo by: Lindsey Nicholson/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images) (Lindsey Nicholson/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
For example, a group of dozens of school-age kids routinely ransacked and looted a CVS in Washington, D.C.’s Columbia Heights neighborhood throughout 2023.
“A big group of kids, like 45 or more, walk in before school, after school and late at night to steal chips and drinks,” Fox 5 reported in October that year. “They even throw the food and beverages on the ground and stomp on them, leaving behind a big mess.”
A recent survey by the National Retail Federation found that 70% of retailers believe organized retail theft has become a more prevalent issue in recent years. As a result of these and similar crimes, big chain stores like CVS and others have been forced to lock up merchandise behind glass and plastic barriers to keep it from being stolen off the shelves.
But the Washington Post columnist complained that these barriers have altered his “relaxing” CVS shopping experience.
“I come back not just because it’s convenient but because it’s relaxing. I like to roam the deserted aisles at night and consider the myriad ways in which the bounty of 21st-century pharmacology might improve my life. What if my hands could truly be moist? Which combination of vitamins might heighten my chances of grasping string theory?” Bai asked.
“Except now I’m standing in front of the oral care aisle, and something has changed,” he continued. “Virtually all of those mysterious products are now encased in glass. It’s like someone has turned the CVS I knew into a Museum of the American Pharmacy; the only thing missing from the lifelike diorama is a wax employee with a pricing gun.”
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A CVS store in D.C.’s Columbia Heights neighborhood was being ransacked throughout 2023. Customers had raised concerns about the location on 14th Street after noticing the shelves were completely empty. (Screenshot FOX 5 DC)
He mentioned feeling the “pressure” of having a store clerk open an enclosure just so he could look at a product he hadn’t decided on buying while she stood there next to him. He also mentioned how when he had to return products later, he was asked if he had opened them. When he said no, he noted the cashier “cheekily” asked, “Are you lying?”
“I should probably be offended by this, but I’m not. If body lotion is so valuable that it has to be kept in a glass vault, then I guess it’s reasonable to wonder what kind of game I’m running. Plus, I seem suspiciously well hydrated,” he remarked, before delving into what has caused this new atmosphere in CVS.
“A little research tells us what’s going on here. As you might have read, CVS and other pharmacies have been struggling to contain a rise in thefts by gangs of fast-moving thieves. Unfortunately for CVS, the solution might be worse for business than the organized shoplifting,” he said, adding, “According to a recent survey, less than 1 in 3 shoppers at CVS are willing to hang around once they realize that the item they want is behind glass.”
Bai noted that this is hard for the store combined with the fact that “plenty of online sites” are offering the same products “more cheaply and just as reliably,” and stated that the chain should lean into what makes it unique.
“What your neighborhood chain can offer is the chance to wander down an aisle and suddenly find some new, cucumber-scented solution to a problem you didn’t even know you had. It’s the possibility store.”
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A CVS store in Washington D.C. is seen in Oct. 2023 footage with bare shelves after a group of teens ransacked the pharmacy chain. (WTTG-TV)
The columnist then offered his advice to the store.
“If I were running CVS, I’d think a bit longer-term — maybe invest in security guards and sales clerks, people who could help preserve that experience of retail discovery. As it stands, though, I can’t go back,” he said. “Life is full of stressful decisions you end up regretting. Body wash shouldn’t be one of them.”
CVS reps did not immediately reply to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
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