Target said they’re shutting down nine stores in big cities across four states because of theft and organized crime, which made it unsafe for workers and shoppers and not good for business.
The company finds it hard to stop crimes in their stores, which have caused them to lose money.
They will shut down stores in New York City, the San Francisco Bay area, Portland, and Seattle, saying that theft in the stores is the main reason for closing them.
The company said they have to close these stores because theft and organized crime are making it dangerous for their workers and customers, and it’s also making their business struggle.
Even though they hired more security guards, used outside security services, and tried tools to stop theft, the crime problems continued.
Here are the stores they’re closing:
1. In New York City:
– Harlem: 517 E 117th St. (They have 96 other stores in the area with over 20,000 workers.)
2. In Seattle:
– University Way: 4535 University Way NE
– Ballard: 1448 NW Market St., Ste. 100 (They have 22 other stores in the area with almost 4,000 workers.)
3. In San Francisco/Oakland:
– SF Folsom: 1690 Folsom St.
– Oakland Broadway: 2650 Broadway
– Pittsburg: 4301 Century Blvd. (They have 32 other stores in the area with over 6,400 workers)
4. In Portland:
– Galleria: 939 SW Morrison St.
– Powell: 3031 SE Powell Blvd.
– Hollywood: 4030 NE Halsey St. (They have 15 other stores in the area with more than 2,500 workers)
Target CEO Brian Cornell said that retail theft got worse last year, becoming a bigger problem.
Cornell told CNBC that the problem affects everyone, making it harder to find products, making shopping less easy, and putting their workers and customers in danger.
The company is teaming up with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Homeland Security Investigations division because, as they said, they can’t fix this problem alone, even though they’re investing in their business.
They didn’t say if the stores were doing poorly or meeting their money goals, but they mentioned they might lose $500 million this year because theft is going up.
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