Target warned in December that it would close stores if conditions in locations ravaged by violence, crime and theft didn’t improve – and, on Tuesday, it announced that it is doing just that.
The nine closures are all in one of four cities:
- Portland (3)
- San Francisco (3)
- Seattle (2)
- New York City (1)
These cities have at least three things in common:
- All four are run by Democrat mayors,
- All four indulged mobs that seized and vandalized public property and government buildings during the so-called “Occupy” movement,
- All four took part in the “Defund the Police” movement.
Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) noted some of the similarities in a social media post back in April. “New York City. Portland. San Francisco. All seeing businesses close down because of crime. All run by Democrats,” Jordan tweeted, linking to news of how, and why, a major retailer closed a San Francisco outlet this week.
“If New York City is the ‘safest big city in America,’ then why are so many people leaving?” Rep. Jordan asked in a follow-up tweet.
In its unsuccessful effort to keep the stores open in the four crime-coddling cities, Target had taken several steps, including:
- Locking merchandise in cases,
- Hiring guard services,
- Training store leaders to handle potentially-dangerous situations, and
- Investing in cyber defense to stop fraud and organized crime.
“Despite our efforts, unfortunately, we continue to face fundamental challenges to operating these stores safely and successfully,” Target said Tuesday in a press release.
In December, Target reported that shoplifting at its stores had increased approximately fifty percent nationally, reducing the chain’s gross margin by more than $400 million from the previous year, with profit losses projected to hit $600 million by the end of the company’s fiscal year.
Other major national chains, such as Starbucks, Whole Foods Market, Walmart, and Nordstrom, are also closing stores in cities, due to the rampant lawlessness.
As the Daily Mail explains:
“Progressive district attorneys in cities like Chicago, New York, Portland and California have also been blamed for effectively legalizing shoplifting with either not prosecuting thefts under $950, or letting criminals off with a slap on the wrist.”