Gregory's ServerWalgreens CEO says when you lock things up to prevent shoplifting, you don’t sell things either
LOL
https://fortune.com/2025/01/14/walgreens-ceo-anti-shoplifting-backfired-locks-reduce-sales/
 47 comments
 @waitworry @skinnylatte I just straight up won't give my business to a store I see locking up socks and underwear. @skinnylatte they put some kind of propaganda speaker in the parking lot of my neighborhood one saying the store is protected by Walgreens security, periodically announcing this to everyone on the street. Nothing has ever made me want to burn a place down more than that.  @skinnylatte I'm sure the combination of locking up items + not paying their employees enough such that they're always short-staffed is a great combination! @tedmielczarek oh yeah the videos on A Perfect Union about the big pharmacies are.. illuminating @tedmielczarek @skinnylatte That sounds about right. Target in my hood did the same, locking up all Lego boxes. Good luck finding an employee who can unlock it! @skinnylatte yep, there have been a number of things at Fred Meyer and Target and Safeway that I have decided to get elsewhere because they're locked up. Too much effort for a package of pepcid or some laundry detergent. @skinnylatte @vmstan This is why these folks get the big money... stating blindingly obvious things from corner offices as far from the actual work as possible.... :D  @skinnylatte See, this is why CEOs make 1000x our salaries - genius insights like this one!  @skinnylatte Also it turns out that when you don’t hire pharmacists it is hard to sell pharmaceuticals; sun rises in East; etc. Signed, guy who finally switched to Amazon Pharmacy for everything that’s not burningly time sensitive because waiting for hours in a Walgreens aisle is unappealing @skinnylatte Yeah I’ve been wondering if it is finally time to do a Costco membership to replace Prime. @luis_in_brief you can also use Costco pharmacy without being a member! But if it’s not super close to you then it’s not useful @skinnylatte I’m in the south side of the Mission, so just a mile and a half to the SOMA Costco. Easy cargo bike ride. (I don’t really Prime all that much anyway, though I suppose that’s famous last words 😂) @luis_in_brief nice, their bike packing is good, right by the ramps to go upstairs Also best for annual eye exams and glasses ahahahah I don’t drink anymore but their alcohol is basically rebranded top shelf stuff. First membership I got when I got to the US :)  @luis_in_brief @skinnylatte Our Costco is also usually the first/only place in town to get Novavax—they're really on the ball, thanks to actual staffing. @kissane @luis_in_brief yeah they were the only place in SF that has Novavax. Probably still true. @kissane @luis_in_brief when I went to get my booster when I was out of the job, the pharmacists there even gave me 50% off coz they were sad I didn’t have insurance haha  @skinnylatte @kissane @luis_in_brief living in UK here, and it blows my mind you get your vaccines from *Costco* @Nicovel0 @kissane @luis_in_brief Costco should probably run some parts of the government, and I say this as a former government worker. They get a lot of things right. Their pharmacy is huge and also has discounted prescriptions for dogs and cats haha Honestly think it’s a better pharmacy experience than a Main Street pharmacy, not just here They also sell windows, tires, petrol, and I don’t buy toilet paper from anywhere else lol @skinnylatte @Nicovel0 @kissane @luis_in_brief It's also a lot of fun to bike down the street with a massive 30-roll pack of tp bungied to a rear rack.  @Nicovel0 @skinnylatte @kissane @luis_in_brief  @luis_in_brief @skinnylatte This, I admit, is exactly what I did as well, for the exact same reason.  "Walgreens CEO puts square block through square hole. News at... wait, what's it mean when the little hand is on the 11?" @skinnylatte I often find that you can find a store or location where they don’t keep things locked up. In Española, NM, for example, the CVS is usually locked up, but not the Walgreens. So Walgreens gets my business. Walmart also tends to have at least fewer things locked up. @josh0 everything is locked up in sf But it’s also part of their narrative for why they’re failing here (theft, but also they suck) Monterey rarely has that @skinnylatte they were starting to do that even back in 2006, but I lived in Albany and commuted, so it didn’t affect me as much. @skinnylatte ‘hilariously’, I just went into the Española Walgreens and everything was locked up.    Wait, you mean I am not the only person who hates waiting 10 minutes just so I can take a closer look at the sock packages. Who knew?  @skinnylatte me every time I'm in a craft store trying to buy spraypaint for a project but there are no "Associates" around to open the cage for me, so I just figure "forget it, I'll just order it online." Though at least that's more (I assume) to prevent addicts from spray-huffing than anti-shoplifting. @skinnylatte If it's not worth stealing, it's also not worth tracking down an employee to buy it, so I just walk by and order it online instead of it's locked up and under $100.  @skinnylatte > "she actually trusts that [the own-brand diapers]’re going to work and that there are not going to be blowouts" LOL. Good luck, new mom. As Jurassic Park Goldblum says, "life... ah... finds a way".  @skinnylatte LOL. First it was "big shoplifting" and now they shoot themselves in the foot.   @skinnylatte lmao I've walked away from several purchases because I didn't want to deal with or wasn't up to dealing with or couldn't wait for a person to get it unlocked, this tracks |
@skinnylatte wait you mean if you have to go find an employee to open it for you and you have to stand there awkwardly while they do it you might be inclined to decide whatever you were getting is not worth the hassle?
wild