(PatriotWise.com) — A Washington, D.C., grocery store plans to pull all national brands from its health and beauty shelves to clamp down on shoplifting, the New York Post reported.
The Giant Food on Alabama Avenue is removing name-brand products and stocking only generic store brands in a last-ditch effort to avoid shutting down the last remaining grocery store east of the Anacostia River, according to the Washington Post.
The store, which is already losing money due to rampant theft, will also begin checking receipts before customers leave the premises.
Diane Hicks, senior vice president of operations, said during a walk-through with District officials last week that the store has “no other choice.” She said other retailers in the area have been locking up products or removing them entirely, and Giant keeping the products available to its customers “forces all the crime to come to us.”
The regional supermarket chain, which includes 165 stores in Delaware, Virginia, Maryland, and Washington, D.C., had already introduced several new security measures at its locations, including limiting the number of entrances, locking up more products, and hiring more security guards.
But those measures have yet to reduce shoplifting thefts, according to Giant Foods President Ira Kress.
Kress told the Washington Post that despite investing more money and hiring more security at the Alabama Avenue store than at other Giant locations, the thefts have gotten worse.
Name-brand products like Colgate, Advil, or Tide, are targets of shoplifters due to their high resale value, Kress said. The Alabama Avenue location will now only stock the generic brand CareOne.
Kress told the Washington Post that while Giant wants to continue serving the community east of the Anacostia, the company can’t do that if the significant loss and risk to employees remain at their current levels.
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