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Walgreens said Thursday it plans to close another store in San Francisco this month, four months after the company closed several in the city due to "organized retail crime," according to a report.
The company didn’t cite crime as the reason for the forthcoming closure at the Kearny Street location in the city's downtown area.
"As we continue to execute our strategy to expand Walgreens role as a leader in the delivery of healthcare, we are focused on creating the right network of stores in the right locations to best meet the needs of the communities we serve," a Walgreens spokesperson told SFGate. "There are a number of factors that we take into consideration when opening and closing locations, including dynamics of the local market and changing buying habits of our customers."
Last November, Walgreens closed five stores in the Northern California city.
Walgreens is closing its location on Kearny Street in San Francisco this month. (Google Maps)
Retail crime
"Organized retail crime continues to be a challenge facing retailers across San Francisco, and we are not immune to that," Walgreens spokesperson Phil Caruso said at the time, according to SFGate. "Retail theft across our San Francisco stores has continued to increase in the past few months to five times our chain average. During this time to help combat this issue, we increased our investments in security measures in stores across the city to 46 times our chain average in an effort to provide a safe environment."
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The store has previously closed other locations in the area because of theft as well.
Men look over a railing at a Union Pacific railroad site on Thursday, Jan. 20, 2022, in Los Angeles. (Associated Press)
Lenient laws?
Critics say California laws such as downgrading of thefts of less than $950 to misdemeanors encourage criminals.
Cities like San Francisco and Los Angeles have been plagued by smash-and-grab thefts at stores and "follow home" robberies in residential areas in recent months. Criminals have also started looting freight trains in the state.
"This is organized theft," California Gov. Gavin Newsom said last month while touring the Union Pacific Railroad tracks in Los Angeles, where looters had dumped packaging after stealing items.
San Francisco Mayor London Breed speaks outside Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital on March 17, 2021. (Getty Images)
He also announced a multi-agency effort to deter theft and hold perpetrators accountable. He said the thieves could be charged under organized crime laws, which would carry harsher penalties.
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San Francisco Mayor London Breed questioned Walgreens' reasoning for closing the locations last fall.
"They are saying [crime is] the primary reason, but I also think when a place is not generating revenue, and when they’re saturated — SF has a lot of Walgreens locations all over the city — so I do think that there are other factors that come into play," the Democrat said in October, according to SFGate.
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