Stores going back to the future for safety?

I rarely enter a Walgreens as it is, if this were universally adopted it would ensure I never set foot in one again. The more stores that do this (though I understand why they do), the more I'll turn to online shopping.

A necessity in many places. Hell, look at the threads here where posters brag about shoplifting. I'm surprised all stores, everywhere, don't do this.

I would be more willing to do this if it made things more efficient and easier. If it meant that the store would actually have it in stock, etc.

So many stores are so bad about having things in stock, even before COVID. They all wanted to cut overstock/backstock so they understocked and would always be out of something. If this eliminated some of that, I'd kinda be into it. Also if it meant payment, etc would all be taken care of beforehand, and just make it a pickup thing? Sure.

I would not “Browse” in these stores. Eliminating browsing would destroy the profitability of retail because many purchases are done on impulse.

Depends on whether I knew exactly what I wanted or whether I needed to compare several items before deciding.

However, they're going to find that sales are going to go down since I often impulse purchase something if it's something I need and happen to see on a shelf.

Depending on the amount of theft, I question whether reduce losses from theft will offset impulse purchases or upsell because a customer buys the next size up, rather than their intended purchase.

No ducking waybeill I wait around for an item to be unlocked. They do this in stores with only a few areas locked up and they just never get around to helping you.

They’re now locking up toothpaste at my local CVS.

FREE MY TYLENOL!

And who exactly is going to be retrieving all these products for customers ? The zoomers who want to make a bomb salary and do nothing ?

This will never, ever work. They may as well close these locations down.

I totally agree with R2 and R4. If I cannot "shop," then it is all going to be online. And there goes impulse buying. This will be a disaster!

It worked for us. Oh, wait...

[quote]Hell, look at the threads here where posters brag about shoplifting.

Sure, Jan

R2 misspelled “Heil,” r12.

I’ll live in Timbuktu before I’d live like that.

[quote]I’ll live in Timbuktu before I’d live like that.

Please do, r14.

Who remembers Service Merchandise?

I'm really enjoying the general prison vibe of American life

[quote]I'm really enjoying the general prison vibe of American life

You, r17, you're a complainer. At least complain about something *worth* complaining about.

R18 I said I like it

I remember Service Merchandise. It was a great store; ahead of its time. More retail stores should adopt that concept.

They wouldn't have to do this if the Democrats criminalized shoplifting and went after the perpetrators, but that would require them to arrest/prosecute mostly black people and they would rather let things go to hell than be thought of as 'racist.'

In short, the Dems are overcompensating for having enforced slavery and Jim Crow laws and founding the Ku Klux Klan. They have a major hang up about that. Thus, the extreme white guilt.

They're taking away a quintessential American past time.

r21, yawn...

I wouldn't shop at a store where people shoplift.

You do you, r24.

Even as a semi elder gay, this was before my time ...

A department store (local) in my town up until the early 80's, had a tube system. They had items you could look at/inspect, but if you wanted to buy it, there was a tube system (like a bank drive through). You filled out an order, gave it to an employee, and they sent the order ... somewhere, you paid for it, and in a few minutes an employee brought it out.

The system wasn't quick or efficient, but it was secure.

The deepest, darkest recesses of R21's mind (or what's left of it) are truly frightening places.

Just have the store experience so you can browse the aisles physically but not remove items from shelves. I see something I want, even an impulse buy, and I touch the screen by the item. All my items are then collected bagged and waiting for me at check out. Get off your lazy asses Walgreen's clerks. You'll need to put some pepper on it or be replaced by robots in a year.

I shop Walgreens online where the prices are frequently better than in-store and discount coupons about.

Hell no! I've experienced this at Walgreens. Went down the street to CVS and no problem.

I don't even like waiting for the check at restaurants. Give them my credit card as soon as they put down the meal.

I still shop out of the catalog from Sears & Roebuck.

"I SAID DO YOU HAVE THE TRIPLE-X ADULT HEAVY-DUTY LADY DIAPERS WITH BUILT-IN MAXI-TAMPONS AND PLEASE HURRY?"

"Huh?"

[bold]"I SAID DO YOU HAVE THE TRIPLE-X ADULT HEAVY-DUTY LADY DIAPERS WITH BUILT-IN MAXI-TAMPONS AND FOR FUCK'S SAKE WOULD YOU PLEASE HURRY?"[/bold]

I recently needed a can of shaving cream. I was on my way home, stopped at a light in the suburbs, and a Walmart was right there. I had been to two Targets already in the days prior, and they had no shaving gels except the $10-12 kind, which is outrageous. I found a $1.98 can of Edge shaving gel at the Walmart. It was locked inside a shelving unit, inside a "cosmetics" area, that forces you pay for stuff from that area before you can walk out into the paper towel aisle and the rest of the store.

Why the fuck are they locking up cheap things like a can of Edge shaving gel? The 99¢ emery boards were a shelf over.

I remember when stores started locking up razor blades when they got very expensive. But shaving gel and emery boards? I don't get it.

*

I don’t know about the suburbs but in NYC homeless steal handfuls of whatever and then get a few bucks from the corner bodega - cheap shaving cream is perfect - easy to resell.

The Hells Kitchen Target has most toiletries locked up now, but the store is small and there are always one or two dedicated “unlock” employees right there to help you out.

In my corner deli I’ve also seen them trade a few bottles of shampoo for a little bit of copper scouring pad that they use to smoke crack.

There are a lot more people on the edge than there were before the pandemic.

R26 In our area those stores were called Service Merchandise and David Weis.

IKEA does this now, to some degree. Obviously most of its goods and wares are available for self-service selection but a certain amount of their stuff is having to order and pickup within the store (or sometimes at a nearby warehouse).

Sooner or later, what's left of brand-name brick and mortar stores will turn into 'showrooms' with a dummy product, and consumers will have to order on-line. Stores will have to offer same-day or next-day delivery. Customers might actually like it better - they can leave the store and not have to lug heavy shopping bags home.

Ikea has always done that for the super bulky items - like wardrobes. Even in the 90s my (actually very well made) leather Ikea couch had to be ordered at the store and then delivered.

Good 👍

R24 Must be sad to only do shopping in your moms basement.

R39 It makes sense for any furniture store, and always has. But for simpler things like a pair of shoes, a coat, or a piece of jewelry - it's going to be a whole new ballgame for consumers of tomorrow.

There are two corner convenience stores two blocks from my apartment, and this year one of them started locking up their beers in the back, so you have to walk back to the front of the store, ask them for the key, give them your ID, and they hand you the key attached to a giant metal spoon. I understand the reasoning, but I've never been back and now go across the street instead. (This is Portland)

*

R43 Portland, Oregon? Portland, Maine?

The core issue is kids aren’t disciplined or taught respect and right/wrong. Horrible society.

[quote]the Walmart.

Oh, gurl.

Have thefts gone up? Why is that? Why do we settle for the ghettofication of stores? We need to deghettofy this world.

Get people out of poverty. Programs for education. The third world, places like Eastern Europe don't care about their fellow man and leave people in poverty. This is why these places suck. Get people out of poverty. Spend wisely on ways that helps society.

R46 So true. Kids are now brought up to do whatever they want (have zero respect for others) and when they face the consequences for their actions, play the victim.

I can’t stand having toiletries locked up. I’m furious with the lowlife people who have made this possible by stealing.