SHRINK

[ClownLoach]

And here we go with another giant crock of crap from the clueless news media.

https://www.cnbc.com/2023/12/19/target- ... earby.html

CNBC is shocked that some locations Target kept open are likely busier than ones they closed due to theft? Yes! That's the freaking point of business! When a store no longer makes money due to theft they close it! If a store has more cash flow from operations it gets kept open! So yes, a slower store getting hit a few times daily is more likely to become unprofitable than a big store getting hit more daily. Economy of scale. Cost leverage. This is a BUSINESS WEBSITE so I find it absolutely incredible that they don't understand these simple concepts taught in the first year business classes and not just to those with an MBA.

Once again they use the false assumption that every single time an item is stolen that there is a police report filed. Obviously to anyone on this board we all know that few if any shoplifting or theft incidents get reported to the police. Most police incidents reported are in conjunction with threats of violence or other such situations, while regular theft losses known or unknown are never reported. The comparison of police incidents filed by store to actual theft loss amounts is completely irrelevant. And of course there is no mention of dollars per reported incident. A store could only have a few incidents a day but they may be the full scale professional looting hits where they lose thousands of dollars at a time, while a busier store might be dealing with a few people running out the door every hour or so with a twelve pack of beer. Obviously the $50M a year store with the hourly run out of a few items can afford the loss but the $5M small format that has several full cart runs a day valued in the thousands can't stay open.

I am really struggling to understand how such ignorant reporting gets published. Obviously the store has a profit and loss statement, and they ain't posting it on the vestibule with this week's sales ad. What is the point of this garbage reporting?

Journalism/News has devolved (writ large) into this crap. This trajectory downwards (with such alacrity) was stimulated by the internet and by mergers and the dilution of so many regulations and laws that presdided over it.

This is what we allowed and this is where we are. I do not believe there is a solution unless we are willing to employ temporary draconian measures (highly unlikely). Pandora's box is wide open!

The reason I read CNBC is that it is a business news network (and not pay walled). Therefore I expect a substantially higher level of reporting quality. This does not cut it.

[veteran+]

Happy New Year

[ClownLoach]

Happy New Year

If I see one more blabbering moron who basically says we must worship police generated statistics like the Holy Bible I am going to lose it. These people are absolutely clueless. Could some of it be getting blown out of proportion? Sure. But these clowns truly believe that every single loss is documented and reported to police, a task that depending on your local PD could take between 20 and 100 hours of work gathering all the documents, video, and performing research that they demand. We know that there are Police Departments who are not really even taking auto theft reports anymore (SFPD), and they sure as heck don't want to take care of retail theft. Plus they have an incentive to make it as difficult as possible to file reports.

[veteran+]

Happy New Year

If I see one more blabbering moron who basically says we must worship police generated statistics like the Holy Bible I am going to lose it. These people are absolutely clueless. Could some of it be getting blown out of proportion? Sure. But these clowns truly believe that every single loss is documented and reported to police, a task that depending on your local PD could take between 20 and 100 hours of work gathering all the documents, video, and performing research that they demand. We know that there are Police Departments who are not really even taking auto theft reports anymore (SFPD), and they sure as heck don't want to take care of retail theft. Plus they have an incentive to make it as difficult as possible to file reports.

So much propaganda coming from State-City law enforcement and the Retailers ad nauseam drifting farther and farther away from the cold hard facts. All propagated by medias of all forms moving farther and farther away from the "truth" presented in context. Journalism? Barely extant. News? Morphed into entertainment.

[ClownLoach]

Happy New Year

If I see one more blabbering moron who basically says we must worship police generated statistics like the Holy Bible I am going to lose it. These people are absolutely clueless. Could some of it be getting blown out of proportion? Sure. But these clowns truly believe that every single loss is documented and reported to police, a task that depending on your local PD could take between 20 and 100 hours of work gathering all the documents, video, and performing research that they demand. We know that there are Police Departments who are not really even taking auto theft reports anymore (SFPD), and they sure as heck don't want to take care of retail theft. Plus they have an incentive to make it as difficult as possible to file reports.

So much propaganda coming from State-City law enforcement and the Retailers ad nauseam drifting farther and farther away from the cold hard facts. All propagated by medias of all forms moving farther and farther away from the "truth" presented in context. Journalism? Barely extant. News? Morphed into entertainment.

At the end of the day, any "journalist" who possesses the (easy to find) knowledge that retailers do not report shoplifting losses to Police should automatically reject ALL crime statistics and refuse to use them in their reporting. The job is to search for the truth and facts, AND validate that the facts are indeed "factual." Any moron with a microphone could immediately invalidate all of this reporting with a simple interaction with a supervisor or manager at any store who will tell them that A) It is damn near impossible to file a police report unless a single loss is in the six figures, B) The police will not even take a report for shoplifting nor will they dispatch an officer unless a more serious crime has occurred in conjunction such as assault or a gun was used, and C) most retailers will not permit any store personnel to report any crime to the police unless someone was assaulted, injured or a gun was used. Since (thank God) 99.99% of retail crimes don't include these circumstances they're not going to be reported and thus the statistics are WORTHLESS.

Just remember, there is an agenda being driven by someone to try to discount the fact that retailers lose money to theft. Who does it benefit?