What happens to cities when the culture of non-compliance really gets the best of them? You've heard me talk about what's gone on in San Francisco - I did a little bit more research, and It's not just the Walgreens and Target that are closing early and shutting stores down. Marshall's, GAP, H&M are too, and the list is growing. This is what happens when governments fail to connect the dots.
The mayor says that's the retailer's problem. They’ve just got to hire more security guards. The police chief says, let me tell you how smart these little thieves are. They actually have a calculator and they calculate the worth of the shoplifted goods, because if you steal less than $950 worth of goods, it's a misdemeanor and the progressive DA says they don't prosecute misdemeanor theft, they're not really into that. It seems as though there's no retail outlet immune from this because in Portland, teenagers have been robbing marijuana dispensaries and in Portland they've reported over a half a million dollars worth of weed stolen.
In fact, one individual predicted that he was going to end up getting killed while working at a cannabis store. His store had already been robbed, burglarized or looted 95 times in 10 months! The number is now up to 103. By contrast, Portland liquor stores have only been burglarized 22 times. Portland area cannabis shops say this reminds them of the crime sprees at drug stores back in the 80’s. Bud tenders have reported being zip-tied during robberies. It doesn't matter if you're a chain store or a mom and pop in the cannabis world in Portland. You're not immune from robberies there either.
In Seattle, TR International, a global chemical distributor decided they couldn't take it anymore. They left. They're one of 160 businesses that have left Seattle since last March of 2020, because nobody is minding the store in Seattle anymore. There’s a real lack of accountability from city leaders. Their downtown started off as a vibrant place to be over time, but TRI says over time they just became embarrassed. Their company has mostly females in their workforce. They simply did not feel safe downtown anymore. One female employee was chased into a park, they’re dodging human fecal matter and homeless people on the sidewalk, so what did they do? They left.
Wonder why they are leaving New York City? Same thing. Retailers are closing down all over Manhattan, And the mom and pops and minority-owned franchises are disproportionately impacted by all of this crime. Smaller retailers like Zara are getting hit by so many thefts, they need to keep more and more items under lock and key. When you go and shop there, you can't even pick anything up because it's locked up to keep thieves from coming in and stealing it.
The National Retail Federation reports that retail “shrink,” an industry word for theft, totaled $61.7 billion in 2019. We're still waiting on the 2020 numbers, but the figures from 2019 are up from $50 billion in 2018. They anticipate a double digit increase in 2020. Even food truck workers in a number of cities have closed it up!
So this is what happens in all of the other cities. There is no sector of the business community immune from this creep. This is what happens when you don't have a proactive governance leadership model that's got their finger on the pulse of what's going on and is getting involved from the very beginning.
And yes, I understand that leaders have to walk a tightrope in the balance of interest. But the fact of the matter is, you've got to lead. You've got to be a credible leader. And I often wonder whether or not that's the case here, because I see the creep. I've been talking about this culture of non-compliance for at least two years. Look at the other cities around the country. They are crying “uncle,” and people are leaving, and businesses are closing. They are not going to be the economically viable business centers that they were in the past because we have our head in the sand.
