Noticed this at big chain stores the last couple times I was in NYC. Both times, in different parts of the city, I just walked a few blocks to a non-chain drugstore where nothing was locked down. Either the indie stores are taking massive losses, or this isn’t really about theft.
My local CVS has locked all products behind glass as, I guess, an anti-theft measure.
They’ve also severely understaffed the store.
So if you want to buy anything, you have to stand in the aisle for 15 minutes, repeatedly pressing an “assistance needed” button.
Masterful gambit, CVS. No notes.
Bingo! The MTA spent a ton of money on Omny readers on buses, put them on the back door so people could get in at all 3 entries on bendy buses, put the driver behind glass. Not only that, there is no Omny 'receipt' to even show you paid! Unsurprisingly, people stopped paying.
Target, CVS etc. cut staff and started self-checkout and then they had a theft problem. Also they have pressure from Amazon and even drugs by delivery. And they pay high rents and charge high prices, their business model is not great in NY. And the pandemic changed habits and people are struggling.
