Which came first, the chicken or the egg? It’s a fun mental exercise, though ultimately it doesn’t matter much to most people’s daily life. Here’s another one with a lot more impact: does crime cause the poverty that closes stores, or does poverty cause the crime that closes stores?
We’re now seeing a crazy amount of crime in cities across the nation alongside rising poverty and job losses. Let’s explore this terrible situation with an eye toward businesses closing, which means a major loss of jobs…and Paychecks. There’s so much to consider here that you get two bonus facts!
Here are Seven Fast Facts about store closures, crime, and poverty:
- 💸 Chicago Example: Walmart - Last month, Walmart announced it would close half of its Chicago stores due to underperformance to the tune of “tens of millions of dollars” per year. They also mention employee safety as a concern, as crime has soared lately. We don’t really need a secret decoder ring to figure that one out.
- 🏬 San Francisco Example: Whole Foods - Nowhere is a better example than San Francisco. It’s one of the most crime-ridden cities in the nation now, with crime rates 67% higher than the average of 20 other major cities. Whole Foods just closed their “flagship store” downtown, citing street conditions with rampant drug use, mental illness, and crime. Hmm, why would any of that deter shoppers?
- 💨 More San Francisco Examples: Um…Pretty Much Everyone - Whole Foods isn’t the only major retailer to make like a baby and head out. Nordstrom, Walgreens, Saks, Marshall’s, Gap, and at least a dozen others have closed or moved locations from downtown since 2020. Most haven’t cited crime as the reason…just things like the safety of their employees. DUH, IT’S TOTALLY DIFFERENT.
- 📉 Other Examples: Pretty Much Everywhere - But this isn’t unique to Chicago and San Francisco. In 2021, organized retail crime skyrocketed by almost 30% all over the country, causing retailers to lose almost $100 billion! Target, Walgreens, Macy’s, Best Buy, and many others are actively closing numerous retail locations, often citing employee safety or crime as a prime reason.
- 🦹 Crime Is The Cause? - Many believe the sharp rise in crime over the last few years is causing many of these closures, along with major shortages of police officers. For example, Chicago is 1700 officers short, and San Francisco is almost 600 officers short. This is the case in many large cities around the country, and often in direct correlation with spiking crime.
- 🤏 Poverty Is The Prompt? - Others believe poverty generally causes crime by driving desperate people to do things they wouldn’t normally do. We’re talking about things like theft and property destruction. This is certainly understandable, although recent studies suggest that may not be the case. 🤔
- 🧑⚖️ Prosecutors Not Prosecuting - Another factor that shouldn’t be ignored is prosecutors who don’t prosecute. San Francisco officials openly say they will not prosecute crimes, particularly ones causing damages under certain dollar amounts. That’s why we see online videos of people literally walking out of stores with their arms full of stolen goods, right past guards who do nothing about it. It also encourages open drug use, public urination, vandalism, and other unsavory behaviors right out in the open because there’s no fear of penalties or punishment. It’s become such a big problem that the San Francisco prosecutor who made that statement got voted out of office!
🔥Bottom line: It’s hard to say for sure if crime causes poverty or poverty causes crime (maybe both!), but it is clear that the two are linked…and when those two get out of hand, businesses cannot thrive. When crime and poverty are on the rise, shoppers go elsewhere, and businesses will always follow the shoppers. That means Paychecks leave, too, and we obviously hate to see that.
It’s a complex problem, and one that may not have a clear cut, simple answer. We think a good start would be to go ahead and prosecute all crimes like we used to, but that’s just us.
What do you think should be done?
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