More consumers, workers shoplift as economy slows
Christine Dugas
USA Today
June 20, 2008
One morning last month, the manager of a Stop & Shop in Methuen, Mass., noticed a man, along with his young daughter, leave the store without paying for several bags of shrimp. When police arrived, they found something else on him, too: 20 cans of baby formula.
Call it a sign of the times. Steadily and alarmingly, shoplifting seems to be rising at many retail chains, and experts are pointing at a prime cause: the sputtering economy.
“Wages aren’t keeping up with inflation, especially the price of food and energy,” says Diane Swonk, chief economist at Mesirow Financial. “It just leaves less money for everything else, and that breeds a lot of temptation.”
Retail and law enforcement experts agree that they’ve seen an increase in store theft during the current slowdown — and not only from customers.
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August 3rd, 2008 at 9:18 am
I noticed your comment on our site, and thought I would pop in to read a little of yours. This particular post is pretty interesting, and sad for all involved. When are we going to realize that the Republican stratagy for ecomonic growth, as well intentioned as it may be, doesn’t work, and acctually has a negative impact on the lives of ordinary citizens. We have become so accustomed to voting party line that we have forgotten that we may be voting against our own interests. Let’s get this country back on the right path. If in the future the republicans begin to care more about U.S. citizens and less about their stock portfolios, then maybe we can vote a couple back in, but I think they lost their right to represent the people, when they stopped representing the people.
August 9th, 2008 at 5:17 am
Shoplifters are not victims no matter what their circumstances. There is right and wrong, not victim and rich. Locally, people have been giving the same “I don’t have enough money so I had to steal” excuse. Shoplifting does not occur because of Democrats or Republicans, it happens because the people doing it see an opportunity and justify it with some poor excuse. In the end it is stealing and shoplifters should be prosecuted.
September 7th, 2008 at 12:00 pm
Hi There,
If they were stealing baby food, then they probably needed it. :/ Whether they thought they needed something else more, or they did not know how to make baby food, the point is they did not know any better.
If they were stealing a bag of rice, and they had only purchased eggs, I would be deeply concerned.