OT: why Walgreen’s is in trouble.

[Black]

BTW, in case you haven't heard (not sure why the righties aren't all over this one) the Chicago Loop has died a very quick death as a retail center in the last 1-2 years. Gone forever, never coming back.

[vision63]

Black wrote:
[quote=vision63]
[quote=Black]
Theft was a main reason all the CVS and Walgreen's and even 7-11s in downtown Chicago are now empty storefronts.
When Walmart closed a bunch of mid-sized stores in Chicago they claimed that the stores had never made a profit in 14 years due to theft, which I don't believe and I think is an example of hiding behind right-wing talking points.


Both can be true.

But it's not really. In San Francisco, the story will be "Walgreens closing 9 stores." Then everybody will start crying and wailing about theft, doom loop etc. But the story really was "Walgreens to close 1200 Stores."

"Macy's Union Square Closing." Oh Dooooom Loooop. Of course it was one of 150 stores announced to close. But "only" the San Francisco store mattered. Just like I'm sure "only' the Macy's State Street store matters. That's just MAGA.

Amazon is destroying retail. There's your reason. The entire mentality of this country had to change in order to allow the evil that is Trump and Trumpism to take hold.

Pit everyone against one another and make everyone hate their own country. Have no pride. Won't even defend it.
They can both be true. Theft and lack of police resources is very definitely a main reason behind all the empty storefronts in the Chicago Loop. And, no reasonable person would suggest that the advent of e-tail is not a factor as well.
Every city is in the same situation. The lack of retail in "all" city centers. All cities have the same complaint. Theft just feels like an obvious problem and it is because it's a crime. After the pandemic, a large percentage of people were working downtowns are now working from home. There's hardly no customer base. None of the major chain stores closed because of theft. They lack customers. Amazon is criss/crossing every street constantly. Delivery services are bringing people their food. Netflix is bring us movies. Don't have to leave the house for anything. The Loop and all "Loops" are dying because people are being catered to like their some kind of royalty.

But it's MAGA that makes people think it's mostly the mayhem of smash and grab theft and not these other reasons. Many people believe that you can't ride public transit without being robbed. That's common sense to them. They've been fed Doom Loops with milk.

Regional, suburban retail, power centers near where commuters live is growing.

[$tevie]

Is it theft driving them out of business? Or is it people like me who don't want to stand in the damn aisle for five minutes waiting for someone to unlock the case so I can choose between several brands of the same item.

I buy everything online that I used to buy in places like CVS and Walgreens. Life is too short.

[vision63]

$tevie wrote:
Is it theft driving them out of business? Or is it people like me who don't want to stand in the damn aisle for five minutes waiting for someone to unlock the case so I can choose between several brands of the same item.

I buy everything online that I used to buy in places like CVS and Walgreens. Life is too short.

It's for the reason in the OP. Walgreens is getting bullied out of business.

[$tevie]

vision63 wrote:
[quote=$tevie]
Is it theft driving them out of business? Or is it people like me who don't want to stand in the damn aisle for five minutes waiting for someone to unlock the case so I can choose between several brands of the same item.

I buy everything online that I used to buy in places like CVS and Walgreens. Life is too short.

It's for the reason in the OP. Walgreens is getting bullied out of business.
My bad. I almost never skip reading an OP link, but the discussion which followed led me astray and I didn't feel the need. I do know better but ignored my own rules.