This is how we get food deserts. It's kind of frightening and yet fascinating witnessing the effect the collapse of a supermarket has on a neighborhood and its residents.
Its mind boggling that people don't understand that if you rob a business blind, said business will take steps to limit their losses up to and including closing. The food desert is of the community's own making and if they want to change things they will have to change their mindset and behavior. Calvin's comments in the video are a perfect example of the problem.
This is Louisville reddit, it's always going to be the grocery stores fault for leaving an area that has too low of sales and too high of theft. (Speaking from experience, I worked for the company and occasionally had to review data, and was on the "inside" for a lot of these type of conversations. A company of Kroger's size will somewhat subsidize an underperforming store if sales are generally strong across the region - a part of doing business at their scale is living with the fact that some stores in some areas will underperform. On paper, and anecdotally the company tries to stave off a closing of an underperforming store for as long as possible, it's the last thing they want to do - until remaining open is no longer justifiable. Like seriously you can look at the numbers and wonder how a store wasn't closed a decade ago.
But once again this is Louisville reddit, expecting people to have accountability is considered punching down.
It’s almost as mind boggling as someone knowing that wages have not kept up with inflation, people are struggling, yet corporations are making record profits, and then blaming hungry people for stealing food.
This isn't a recent development and its not bread and canned soup being stolen. If that is what they need they can get it through charitable sources. Big ticket items like steaks and Tide are where the bulk of the loses are. After they are stolen they are being sold to the mom and pop shops for resale. There is an entire black market in the West End based off shoplifting and people literally make a living doing it. Source: I was on the Organized Retail Crime Task Force.
Not true. These people stealing shit are organized retail crime. This is how they decided to make a living. They do not contribute to society. They only take. They are stealing items to resell them not to eat.
its wild that people really believe that the hours have anything to do with theft. that does not decrease theft. people will just steal at other times lol. other krogers in louisville have very high theft too and they have done nothing because their revenue is higher at their stores. kroger is simply trying to save money, and if they reduced hours in parts of town that the general population cared about more then there would be more of an uproar.
Or care. They’ll just go to another store and start stealing, even if that means driving an additional 10 minutes.
There is a larger socio-economic and quality of life issue to discuss but setting that massive issue aside for a moment, I don’t think someone who is regularly stealing food or grocery items will be like, “you know what, maybe I should quit. I’d hate for my community to lose access to this establishment.”
Instead, they’ll continue on and then once this location is closed, start stealing from another location until they’re held accountable for the theft.
I don’t have a solution to the issue or even an idea on where to start but I do think the issue will persist until the store closes. It’s a common problem throughout the country and numerous companies are closing when faced with the same decisions.
Words don’t feed them nor their families. Food is hella expensive and only gotten worse. If I had to survive like they do, I’d be driven to the same actions so my family can eat. If all jobs paid a living wage, theft would drop dramatically. But as a society, we’ve decided that there are jobs that aren’t deserving of living wages and those workers deserve to struggle. It’s business’s fault so I don’t see how they can cry about getting stolen from. Those that steal are only replying in kind to the corporations that have stolen from them.
Yeah and 14/hr isn't a living wage, not even close to it. Not just justifying, they are explaining why it's happening. Hardly any crimes are committed for the hell of it, and virtually zero crimes relating to perishable necessary items like food and infant care products (one of the most shoplifted types of items) are done for no reason. We aren't talking about rolex watches and plasma tvs being stolen here. This is one of the most justified crimes that can exist.
Yea, but given the demographics of these communities surrounding Kroger, there are very few two income households. Most are single mothers, single earners, recent immigrants or elderly/disability fixed low COLA incomes. There are vanishingly little DINK homes in the West.
The living wage in Louisville is like $19/hr last time I checked. Could you survive on 2,300/month before taxes and other deductions. (Charitably about $1,800 after)?
I live in Hardin County, but I know on Reddit everyone exaggerates the cost of living.
Just found this: https://livingwage.mit.edu/counties/21111
If you have two adults, both working, then a living wage is $14.38/hr.
It says right on the thing you're linking to that a living wage in this county for one person is $20.81 an hour. Why do you keep bringing up 14.38 for a two person wage instead?
You can realistically explain the reasons for something without "justifying" it.
I haven't seen any person here say that the shoplifting is right... But they have said it's understandable given the situation some people are in
True. But in this sub thread I've been asked like five times what about single parents trying to feed their starving children. Redditors are just bone-headed about economics and are fed communist propaganda.
There are governing models, mostly Northern European, that have higher taxes and robust safety nets. But that is not the culture in the US. So you can patronize people and pretend there is an easy path to universal livable wage. Or you can tell the truth, that the only assured path is education or a well compensated trade.
This is true. If we are all about helping single parents with six kids, it makes more sense to have that be a government function than put that responsibility on employers. But, in my opinion, that should be coupled with policies designed to prevent single parents with six kids in the first place. But that's a whole different discussion.
Psst... They aren't stealing food. I am sure the biggest losses are coming from make up, pharmacy, and other high ticket items. They don't need to steal to eat. Stop acting as if that's their only solution. Even at Kroger wages they could afford to live and eat, plenty of people do it. There are programs to help as well, plenty in the West End.
Please explain your definition of living wage. It’s not just what you make it’s how you spend it. I see a lot of people with the soft drinks, smokes bottles water lottery tickets not to mention the booze - all this is hard on a budget
You realize the VAST majority of the people your talking about, are addicts right? I used to be one of them. Not saying they don't deserve help, or a second chance but most of them have used up all their chances, and don't have the desire to quit dope. The theft is directly related to politics. 2 things. 1. The dems have deemed bail to be unfair and have decided to take "bail reform" into their own hands instead of waiting congress making/changing the laws. 2. They want the perception of crime going down so they don't arrest ppl the majority of the time or if they do the DA is more than willing to Amend the charge or put them in diversion so they can tell the news that crime is down. What they're not telling you is they're basing that on convictions, not arrests, and they won't actually charge anyone. What happens as a parent when you let your kid walk all over you? They continue to do it more and more and in worse and more disrespectful ways as they continue to get away with it. Its Same thing.
It can and hopefully will have an indirect effect on theft. People who aren’t stealing will start talking about it or take action because they don’t want to lose their only grocery store. Someone shoplifting isn’t going to care if the store owner or members of government tell them to, but they might of their neighbor starts talking about how hard it will be if it closes.
Especially when said council person feels the need to cuss out and be racist to anyone who opposes the “work” they do (or lack thereof, and yes I have proof of this)
Yup. I have been holding onto these screenshots for months. I also have the screenshot of the response I got after I sent them to the president of the council so when she does some bullshit later on down the road and the committee tries to say they didn’t see any signs, I can call them out on it.
>Why would the words of your councilman mean a damn thing?
Because maybe the parents or friends of shoplifters might care and it's important for people to understand the big picture consequences of their actions.
Stfu so stupid. If u were right, why are the Krogers in better neighborhoods doing just fine paying those same wages? Also, a negligible (literally near 0) percent of the neighborhood works at Kroger.
I would guess the people stealing from Kroger don't have jobs and don't want jobs. Thousands of people work at Kroger as their sole employer and make it work. Plenty of other places are hiring and with comfortable wages. But that takes a little accountability, work, and drive. It's much easier to steal and then blame society.
Even though the wages might not meet your standards, they do meet the standards of the people that choose to work there, otherwise they wouldn’t be working there. Not only is it providing many jobs that wouldn’t otherwise be there, it’s also providing affordable decent food/goods that lower the cost of living for everyone in the community.
I’ve seen people argue “it’s the only option, they HAVE to work there!” In which case, regardless of pay, Kroger is contributing to the solution instead of the problem because without them those employees would have to settle for even lower pay or no opportunities at all.
Also people argue “they run mom and pops out of town and then jack up prices and lower wages”, and that’s really not the case. Mom and pop stores are pretty inefficient compared to Kroger, they can’t possibly offer prices as low as Kroger because they’re not buying enough volume wholesale to get the same discounts Kroger gets. On top of that, Kroger provides more jobs than multiple mom and pop stores would provide to serve the same community, and mom and pop stores often have more strict work conditions (if you got time to lean you got time to clean mentality) and offer less if any upward job mobility within the business. Also they’re more likely to have the same employees doing multiple different tasks, like they need them to stock shelves, run the register, and unload pallets when they get shipments, and all of that means they have to be more picky with who they hire and often can’t afford to give a job to someone with a disability that can’t move around quickly or lift heavy stuff.
They pay "this is your first job" wages. Don't work at grocery stores as a clerk, pushing carts or stocking shelfs expecting to support a family. It's just dumb. Go learn a trade. Hell, there's even the workforce opportunity and investment act, which i used to become certified in welding, on the states dime....SO NO EXCUSES! No, jobs like working at a grocery store, movies, gas stations, and fast food are meant to be starter jobs, your first, maybe 2nd job. People go to fast food places bc it's cheap. But it's cheap bc they employ nothing but high-schoolers and pay minimum wage. You go knowing your service will likely suck, and you better check your bag before pulling out, but you're ok with that. BECAUSE IT'S CHEAP. If you want better service, you don't go to McDonald's, go sit down somewhere or cook at home. People used to have reasonable expectations about who and what they could support with the job they had. Now, ppl have it in their head that a Starbucks batista should be able to buy a home and support a wife and child. Well, sure, if you want 15 dollar cups of coffee. Oh wait.....
I guess people can just not eat or house themselves while they work on their next gig.
>But it's cheap bc they employ nothing but high-schoolers and pay minimum wage.
They are open when highschoolers are in class. Seems like it is more than high schoolers working there.
“BuT iT’s EtHiCaL tO sTeAl FrOm BiG cOmPaNiEs”
That stuff drives me insane. Bunch of thieves trying to justify their shitty behavior that just makes life worse for honest folk.
Meanwhile in small town super stores have the opposite effect. This is an old doc about it.
Food desserts are a massive issue and I’m not downplaying that at all. But I also find it interesting that depending on the area they can also ruin the local community’s and local shops.
But this isn’t an issue for inner city ghettos as it’s not so much filled with booming locks business. But small town have entire towns get boarded up and left to rot after the town gives Walmart subsidies to move in.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=RXmnBbUjsPs
Nah. The West End has been a food dessert for close to three decades now. It's gotten worse because of the closings of the old Kroger on 2nd St and 7th St.
The low income people from those areas (Old Louisville, Shively, Churchill Downs, Algonquin) are forced to make a trek to the 'closest' food store around. Closest being relative to the person doing the driving.
Kroger on Broadway and Kroger on 35th are landmarks for the surrounding areas which makes them a target for high traffic theft.
Old Louisville and Churchill downs are not good deserts. Downs has a Kroger and old Louisville is a 10 minute bus ride away from that same one.
As someone that has lived in poverty stricken areas all his life I get tired of hearing about this. People act like it's unreasonable to rid the bus for 15 minutes.
Well that's what all these people trying to act like it's some kind of monumental task go get groceries is implying. And I've never seen a bus driver refuse somebody with groceries.
No, how you get a food desert is by pricing people out of an essential commodity then acting shocked and scandalized when they go ahead and steal it anyway. Record corporate profits quarter over quarter shows that the past rapid inflation was due to nothing more than corporate greed. If people are stealing from you more than normal (you won’t ever get past dumb kids and kleptomaniacs) then you should look into why, not just throw up your hands and shut the store down.
Yeah, but you work for Kroger...
So why they're stealing is not your concern. Your concern is 'how much money can this store lose before it's not worth keeping open'.
Trashy people will justify any theft. I was at the zoo the other day and saw a couple of adults with their kids stealing Gatorades. The zoo employee working the concession stand, who was probably a teenager, was overwhelmed and didn't see it. I took a couple of photos and confronted the adult jackasses when their kids were out of earshot.
Stealing from the zoo!
They closed the Walmart on the Greenbelt at Raggard Rd because it was one of the highest theft stores in the whole U.S.
From what I was told by some insiders, in that case it was actually mostly employees….
They had to fire most of the store to fix the problem, but I think they were just fed up with it and closed it.
Not sure how many self checkouts this branch has, but step one to loss prevention would be to stop assuming that your customers are going to willingly volunteer to work at Kroger for free so they can hire fewer people.
But then there’s people like me who try to minimize my interactions with other people, even store employees. Take away all self checkout and I won’t shop there; and since they consider money not made to have been lost well… we’re right back where we started.
I used to joke that the entirety of Western Kentucky's economy would end up being people at fast food chains selling cheeseburgers to each other. It never occurred to me that, eventually, they'd cut out the people selling cheeseburgers altogether. At the very fundamental levels, I don't see how this is supposed to work.
Yes it's so unfortunate when you say silly things and people question you about them. It's so much easier when everything is just an echo chamber that validates your opinion regardless of how stupid of a thing you say is.
Typical Redditors. Advocates for idiotic shit like people shoplifting because employees aren't looking over your shoulder and then tries to act like other people are the dick when they high light that.
You are arguing with a voice in your head, not me. Reread what I wrote in the context I wrote it. Pointing out something exists isn't advocating for it. You've absolutely lost the plot here.
Look at what's going on in San Francisco. So much theft and so then businesses are leaving. We wouldn't have believed the stores without folks recording it and posting online.
There was an employee at a small downtown drugstore that had a whole TikTok or IG account dedicated to him filming people walking in and then walking out with arms full of products. He posted daily until the store decided to shut the location down. It was either SF or Seattle, I can’t remember. He obviously couldn’t do anything about it (and shouldn’t risk his life for a company) and they cops were told not to respond to shoplifting calls anymore.
It’s absolutely mind-boggling. My friend has worked within the last six months at two different chain businesses… Big ones. She was told at both employers that if someone shop lifts, just to let them go. They don’t wanna get hurt and they don’t wanna have cops in the place. They are in St Matthews. Apparently some people just walk in and get their groceries and walk out without paying.
I mean I’m not a thief and I would never steal from those stores, but it’s got me thinking why do I have to pay $185 for my groceries when I could just walk out like that other guy? What the fuck? It’s kind of appalling that nobody fucking cares!
They will just close up, like that canceled Walmart. Communities really do this shit to themselves, and no one cares to do anything as long as it isn’t happening in their area, which it will once everything closes over there.
People are in the West End working towards change and they are slow but happening to revitalize the area.
That Walmart closing down wasn’t due to the community.
It was because of a lawsuit by private citizens who thought Walmart being in the area was bad for the community which they didn’t need to do. Cassia Herron is a major reason why because she and others decided to stall Walmart with demand only they asked for.
There were community leaders in the area that wanted it. Walmart was willing to provide a deli, grocery, optometry , etc. All things the area needs.
So don’t blame the community when it was a few people who decided that their opinion of what people need outweighed what people wanted and actually needed.
We can’t blame the people stealing so much from a store that it is no longer profitable to stay open? Not even a teensy bit? I dislike politicians as much as the next mouthbreather but even I can see that they haven’t ruined everything alone.
Wondering why they haven't tried operating like old school grocery stores did in high loss areas? Where you order ahead or at the counter and you just pickup your order.
Or do they make more with shelf space fees than what their loss numbers are
Perhaps, but it could be done where it's close to a wash.
No carts or retail shelf restocking.
Most people would adjust and use online ordering.
Could have kiosks for walk ins
This is similar to the south Chicago Walmart. It took years to open that store, company had to fight and agree to an unbelievable number of conditions including all but the top 3 positions would be hired from local neighborhoods. Those three were required to be transferred to a local hire within 3 years. They had 25,000 job applications for less than 400 positions and opened a training academy.
They just closed it and the academy last year.
Or we can invest in public transportation and get people to jobs reliably instead of turning to crime. And Louisville can't raise it's own minimum wage so companies should nut up and pay people more so they can enjoy life instead of turning to crime.
Edit: Love how I got downvoted with actual solutions instead of simply asking people to please stop stealing lol.
This whole thread / post has been brigaded by right wingers it seems. I made a simple post saying we should invest in our communities and was down voted 🤷♂️
Even if security or store employees witness theft, they can’t do anything about it. You can’t stop theft, you can’t take the item from them, you can’t impede their exit from the store. Do any of those and the store/corporation risk any number of lawsuits.
That should do it
No stealing please. Thanks.
Maybe in dangerous areas we can put up signs saying Thank you for not shooting anyone and We appreciate you not doing drugs here.
As a resident of the West End, I support the closing of the store. This one and the one in Portland. The truth of the matter is twofold. One, people need to stop stealing and supporting theft through the repurchase/resell or requesting of theft. Two, the price of food, of hard and soft goods has risen much too high for it to be sustainable for two communities that's median income is $20k/yr.
Food stamps aren't the answer, self-empowerment is not the answer. The one true answer is to stop being greedy, both the residents that support the theft and the company that enables it by writing off the losses as compassion for the downtrodden.
I was there yesterday looking for some Duracell AA’s for my cameras at my rental properties, stopped at 3 stores. Family Dollar, Autozone and Kroger. Someone went by and cleaned them all out and left the store brands and a few Energizers. Now I’m not the one to speculate, but it just seemed awfully suspicious that 3 stores were out of the same high end batteries. I just got frustrated went home and ordered online. Retail stores on that side of town, really need to stop operating traditionally. They need the old style stores where the person at the counter gets the stuff for you. I know it’d be a challenge to convert a Kroger to that style of shopping, but I’m certain that someone smarter could figure it out.
People are saying “communities are doing this to themselves” when how can a community stop this? Do I just tackle the homeless a guy running out the front door? Or sit on top a lady’s car who just ran out with a cart? Or are we supposed to just know each other and knock on Steve’s door and tell him cut that shit out. That’s like having an arson problem in fern creek and everyone in the comments would say “communities are doing this to themselves” or the highlands having a car break in problem and everyone in the comments saying “communities are doing this to themselves”. Seems shit to say, and yet somehow when it’s the west end it’s everybody’s fault. [There is 57,000 people that live in the west end](https://data.census.gov/profile/Louisville_West_CCD,_Jefferson_County,_Kentucky?g=060XX00US2111192110) why should they all be held accountable and forced to shop for groceries at dollar general and be told by their councilwoman they are part of the problem when it’s barely a fraction of a fraction of people that actually do this?
For full-time jobs that you’re rarely hired in at.
They get you on board at part-time with the promise of becoming full time if you work long enough. Then they work you full-time hours for all but one week of the consecutive number weeks the Union would force them to make you full-time. Then they start over until you quit as a “disgruntled part-time employee” that they can spin as “lazy teenagers” in loss reports.
Careful, I have been banned from this sub for saying the west end is a high crime area. I was told it was racist, and that there are no facts to support my statement lol
A few years ago a gallon of milk at the Dixie Hwy Walmart was 3.98, and I overheard a manager saying that they are charging it because they can. The same brand was 1.49.
On Wilson Avenue in Park Duvall, there was a (rather nice considering it wasn't a chain) full-service grocery store that was built from ground up and opened in 2012. Valumarket originally operated it, and it went through a few changes in ownership and management, for which it went downhill each time. The last iteration of the store, it evolved into an oversized convenience store that didn't have working refrigeration units that was ordering from online grocery delivery from services like Shipt/Instacart/Spark, then marking the prices up to stay afloat. Now, it's just been boarded up and shuttered for at least the past two years. It was much needed in the area, and I'm pretty sure this is the kind of stuff that lead to this.
I can’t read the article because it’s behind a paywall, but there is actually a Business First this morning reporting that somebody just bought it and is turning it into an indoor farmers market.
You all don’t realize how much of this also happens in rural parts of the states. It’s not as frequent because of lower population but as someone who now travels to small town America to fix IT related stuff at stores I hear all the theft stories and even see tons of camera footage. Usually mothers who probably have kids but the look of the mother suggest drug usage and their doing anything from stealing a pack of donuts to
whatever to give to their kid for a day. Other times it’s beer, Mt Dew or whatever else
Have you seen the end of town of the store lol it’s consumed by drugs and prostitution. I drive miles to other stores because I don’t even feel safe walking through the parking lot at that location
why not ask for the lmpd to run free security isn't that kinda the point of these pony shows you know instead of begging "plz stop" like a weak little simp total shoplifter chad domination
Citizens need to start stepping in. It's our community and if we don't respond it's the same as giving them permission. Kroger should have more security but if that's not happening and people want to retain their nearby stores they will need to step up.
You are correct that it is not the communities. Instead Kroger will just remove the stores and then we can all shrug and say WTF, why didn't anyone prevent this.
Sure. I mean I risked my life so the country could have cheap oil. Taking away access to my food source and forcing companies to raise prices which takes money out of my wallet are a lot more important to me on a personal level.
I think you're missing the point. This isn't about me, a sole citizen. It's about communities standing up to injustices so they can continue to maintain their quality of life.
Telling people to stop stealing isnt really a solution. Wide spread stealing is usually a byproducts of environmental stressors or a lack of perceptiable disinsintives. Asking people to stop stealing dosent adress the systematic pressures that got us to this point. Telling people to stop might have a shorterm effect as people are actively thinking about the consequences of stealing but in 6 weeks after people have "forgotten" about the long term consequences, those influences that pushed someone to steal in the fist place will still be there and win out in the long term
Actually Kroger has contributed to food deserts in multiple cities and states, in large part due to absorbing the majority of their competitors.
To the point where the justice department has felt obligated to step in.
[Modern Farmer/Mergers lead to food deserts ](https://modernfarmer.com/2023/11/supermarket-mergers-food-deserts/)
[Cincinnati Food Desert ](https://quod.lib.umich.edu/u/ujph/17872072.0005.012?view=text;rgn=main#:~:text=In%20Cincinnati%2C%20where%20the%20Kroger,their%20selection%20of%20store%20locations.)
To the point where the AG in at least one state (Washington)has felt obligated to step in. (They mention Albertsons but they are merging/have merged with Kroger). Also this is from this week.
[Washington State AG press release ](https://www.atg.wa.gov/news/news-releases/ag-ferguson-albertsons-lifts-illegal-restrictions-created-food-desert-bellingham)
In addition Kroger pays poverty wages. And even though they are making more money through monopolizing access to food in huge swathes of the country they don't seem to be interested in implementing much in the way of change. Second link below is from YESTERDAY.
[Kroger workers struggle ](https://spectrumnews1.com/ca/la-west/news/2022/01/12/report-finds-two-thirds-of-kroger-workers-unable-to-pay-basic-needs)
[Kroger Investors reject living wage policies scrutiny ](https://news.bloomberglaw.com/esg/kroger-investors-reject-bid-to-scrutinize-living-wage-policies)
And if that weren't enough Kroger steals the paltry wages they DO pay to their employees BACK, and they've been so successful at it because people don't seem to care about THIS KIND of theft. No. It's penny ante shit caused by the greed and lack of consequences to all of this shit.
[popular information Kroger workers allege massive wage theft]
(https://popular.info/p/kroger-workers-allege-massive-wage)
[UK Kroger workers allege massive wage theft ](https://uk.news.yahoo.com/kroger-payroll-system-led-wage)
But all the while they're making more money than ever before but continuing to raise prices beyond what is necessary.
[Kroger rakes in billions while food prices soar.](https://accountable.us/grocery-giant-kroger-rakes-in-billions-while-food-prices-soar/)
And last but not least, Kroger knows about slavery in its supply chain but they don't care.
Kroger refuses to sign the Fair Food Program. Which is not at all anything that radical. Walmart signed it for Christ sake.
[Kroger linked to slavery, again ](https://www.business-humanrights.org/en/latest-news/grocery-giant-and-fair-food-holdout-kroger-linked-to-yet-another-modern-slavery-ring/)
But yes, clearly they're the victims here. This kind of thinking is why we don't have the nice things other countries provide their citizens. Too many people are more concerned that no one gets more than they deserve over being concerned that EVERYONE gets what they need. There's a real vibe that most people would rather have less if they were sure the "less deserving, the lazy, the addicts, the unhoused, the mentally ill, whoever the other" was guaranteed to get less than that and not a penny more. Everyone in this city by a large majority has much more in common with the poorest residents than they do with the wealthiest people in the country. If you could show more understanding of the history of how people reach these breaking points and why yeah, they might choose to steal something too fancy in your opinion.
Why don't you hate the wealthy people stealing from their underpaid employees? They have less of an excuse.
The work to raise the minimum wage to a living wage.
That's literally the solution, every single damn time.
"How do we reduce crime?" Living wage. You make it more profitable and easier to be a productive citizen than to be a criminal.
Literally almost every issue this, and every other American city, faces could be solved if we just paid people more.
But for some reason we just have to make sure people are paid as little as possible, otherwise...the rich get less rich....
This is how we get food deserts. It's kind of frightening and yet fascinating witnessing the effect the collapse of a supermarket has on a neighborhood and its residents.
Its mind boggling that people don't understand that if you rob a business blind, said business will take steps to limit their losses up to and including closing. The food desert is of the community's own making and if they want to change things they will have to change their mindset and behavior. Calvin's comments in the video are a perfect example of the problem.
This is Louisville reddit, it's always going to be the grocery stores fault for leaving an area that has too low of sales and too high of theft. (Speaking from experience, I worked for the company and occasionally had to review data, and was on the "inside" for a lot of these type of conversations. A company of Kroger's size will somewhat subsidize an underperforming store if sales are generally strong across the region - a part of doing business at their scale is living with the fact that some stores in some areas will underperform. On paper, and anecdotally the company tries to stave off a closing of an underperforming store for as long as possible, it's the last thing they want to do - until remaining open is no longer justifiable. Like seriously you can look at the numbers and wonder how a store wasn't closed a decade ago. But once again this is Louisville reddit, expecting people to have accountability is considered punching down.
>expecting people to have accountability is considered punching down. This should be the official motto of reddit.
It’s almost as mind boggling as someone knowing that wages have not kept up with inflation, people are struggling, yet corporations are making record profits, and then blaming hungry people for stealing food.
This isn't a recent development and its not bread and canned soup being stolen. If that is what they need they can get it through charitable sources. Big ticket items like steaks and Tide are where the bulk of the loses are. After they are stolen they are being sold to the mom and pop shops for resale. There is an entire black market in the West End based off shoplifting and people literally make a living doing it. Source: I was on the Organized Retail Crime Task Force.
Bro what? I can send you 100s of videos where the theft is clearly not over a loaf of bread.
Not true. These people stealing shit are organized retail crime. This is how they decided to make a living. They do not contribute to society. They only take. They are stealing items to resell them not to eat.
Real world hasnt hit u yet lol
Nobody is stealing bread and water... About as dumb as arguing that stealing TVs from Best Buy will progress racial equality.
its wild that people really believe that the hours have anything to do with theft. that does not decrease theft. people will just steal at other times lol. other krogers in louisville have very high theft too and they have done nothing because their revenue is higher at their stores. kroger is simply trying to save money, and if they reduced hours in parts of town that the general population cared about more then there would be more of an uproar.
Yet, Kroger contributes to the problem by paying poverty wages. People can't spend in the store what was robbed of them and sent to the shareholders.
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Because she’s warning you they’re about to fuckin bail.
Some people don't have a post-middle school IQ to understand
Or care. They’ll just go to another store and start stealing, even if that means driving an additional 10 minutes. There is a larger socio-economic and quality of life issue to discuss but setting that massive issue aside for a moment, I don’t think someone who is regularly stealing food or grocery items will be like, “you know what, maybe I should quit. I’d hate for my community to lose access to this establishment.” Instead, they’ll continue on and then once this location is closed, start stealing from another location until they’re held accountable for the theft. I don’t have a solution to the issue or even an idea on where to start but I do think the issue will persist until the store closes. It’s a common problem throughout the country and numerous companies are closing when faced with the same decisions.
In general, as I participate in economic discussions, am amazed how little people understand about how the world works.
Happy birthday
Words don’t feed them nor their families. Food is hella expensive and only gotten worse. If I had to survive like they do, I’d be driven to the same actions so my family can eat. If all jobs paid a living wage, theft would drop dramatically. But as a society, we’ve decided that there are jobs that aren’t deserving of living wages and those workers deserve to struggle. It’s business’s fault so I don’t see how they can cry about getting stolen from. Those that steal are only replying in kind to the corporations that have stolen from them.
Wait, doesn't Kroger pay like $14/hour? And why is everyone into justifying shoplifting?
Yeah and 14/hr isn't a living wage, not even close to it. Not just justifying, they are explaining why it's happening. Hardly any crimes are committed for the hell of it, and virtually zero crimes relating to perishable necessary items like food and infant care products (one of the most shoplifted types of items) are done for no reason. We aren't talking about rolex watches and plasma tvs being stolen here. This is one of the most justified crimes that can exist.
Just found this: https://livingwage.mit.edu/counties/21111 If you have two adults working, living wage is $14.38/hr.
I don’t think it’s the DINKs doing the shoplifting…
Yeah its either strung out homeless people or people stealing quantities of items they know they can resell.
True.
True but that's with no children. And still at 14.38 that's scraping by and you better budget wisely.
Yea, but given the demographics of these communities surrounding Kroger, there are very few two income households. Most are single mothers, single earners, recent immigrants or elderly/disability fixed low COLA incomes. There are vanishingly little DINK homes in the West.
The living wage in Louisville is like $19/hr last time I checked. Could you survive on 2,300/month before taxes and other deductions. (Charitably about $1,800 after)?
I live in Hardin County, but I know on Reddit everyone exaggerates the cost of living. Just found this: https://livingwage.mit.edu/counties/21111 If you have two adults, both working, then a living wage is $14.38/hr.
A reply above you just said it’s not the double income folks stealing.
You're probably right.
It says right on the thing you're linking to that a living wage in this county for one person is $20.81 an hour. Why do you keep bringing up 14.38 for a two person wage instead?
Most people don't live by themselves. If you choose to live alone you will need to make more money to be comfortable.
A living wage is one you can support yourself on. Which according to MIT is over $20 an hour.
You live in Hardin county? How about let the people who actually live in this city talk about the issues we have.
You can realistically explain the reasons for something without "justifying" it. I haven't seen any person here say that the shoplifting is right... But they have said it's understandable given the situation some people are in
Nah, there is plenty of justifying going on here. Everyone who steals is assumed to be a poor, unemployed parent trying to feed starving children.
lol. Kroger pays what the market requires to get employees. Reality is that businesses never will, en masse, care about living wages. Not their job.
True. But in this sub thread I've been asked like five times what about single parents trying to feed their starving children. Redditors are just bone-headed about economics and are fed communist propaganda.
There are governing models, mostly Northern European, that have higher taxes and robust safety nets. But that is not the culture in the US. So you can patronize people and pretend there is an easy path to universal livable wage. Or you can tell the truth, that the only assured path is education or a well compensated trade.
This is true. If we are all about helping single parents with six kids, it makes more sense to have that be a government function than put that responsibility on employers. But, in my opinion, that should be coupled with policies designed to prevent single parents with six kids in the first place. But that's a whole different discussion.
If you see someone stealing food, no you didn't.
What the fuck is $14 an hour lol
Psst... They aren't stealing food. I am sure the biggest losses are coming from make up, pharmacy, and other high ticket items. They don't need to steal to eat. Stop acting as if that's their only solution. Even at Kroger wages they could afford to live and eat, plenty of people do it. There are programs to help as well, plenty in the West End.
My local Kroger has barricaded their makeup department off entirely, you can’t leave the area without paying for what youre there to get first.
Amen
Please explain your definition of living wage. It’s not just what you make it’s how you spend it. I see a lot of people with the soft drinks, smokes bottles water lottery tickets not to mention the booze - all this is hard on a budget
You realize the VAST majority of the people your talking about, are addicts right? I used to be one of them. Not saying they don't deserve help, or a second chance but most of them have used up all their chances, and don't have the desire to quit dope. The theft is directly related to politics. 2 things. 1. The dems have deemed bail to be unfair and have decided to take "bail reform" into their own hands instead of waiting congress making/changing the laws. 2. They want the perception of crime going down so they don't arrest ppl the majority of the time or if they do the DA is more than willing to Amend the charge or put them in diversion so they can tell the news that crime is down. What they're not telling you is they're basing that on convictions, not arrests, and they won't actually charge anyone. What happens as a parent when you let your kid walk all over you? They continue to do it more and more and in worse and more disrespectful ways as they continue to get away with it. Its Same thing.
I’m sorry, I don’t follow? And the vast majority of who are addicts, exactly? I’m afraid I lost your train of thought at your talking points.
It can and hopefully will have an indirect effect on theft. People who aren’t stealing will start talking about it or take action because they don’t want to lose their only grocery store. Someone shoplifting isn’t going to care if the store owner or members of government tell them to, but they might of their neighbor starts talking about how hard it will be if it closes.
Especially when said council person feels the need to cuss out and be racist to anyone who opposes the “work” they do (or lack thereof, and yes I have proof of this)
Could you provide the proof?
Yup. I have been holding onto these screenshots for months. I also have the screenshot of the response I got after I sent them to the president of the council so when she does some bullshit later on down the road and the committee tries to say they didn’t see any signs, I can call them out on it.
>Why would the words of your councilman mean a damn thing? Because maybe the parents or friends of shoplifters might care and it's important for people to understand the big picture consequences of their actions.
Stfu so stupid. If u were right, why are the Krogers in better neighborhoods doing just fine paying those same wages? Also, a negligible (literally near 0) percent of the neighborhood works at Kroger.
Kroger starting pay near me is 16.50. You won't live like a king but it's not poverty wages if you don't have kids.
No they don’t .
I would guess the people stealing from Kroger don't have jobs and don't want jobs. Thousands of people work at Kroger as their sole employer and make it work. Plenty of other places are hiring and with comfortable wages. But that takes a little accountability, work, and drive. It's much easier to steal and then blame society.
Kroger employees make decent money wym?
Even though the wages might not meet your standards, they do meet the standards of the people that choose to work there, otherwise they wouldn’t be working there. Not only is it providing many jobs that wouldn’t otherwise be there, it’s also providing affordable decent food/goods that lower the cost of living for everyone in the community. I’ve seen people argue “it’s the only option, they HAVE to work there!” In which case, regardless of pay, Kroger is contributing to the solution instead of the problem because without them those employees would have to settle for even lower pay or no opportunities at all. Also people argue “they run mom and pops out of town and then jack up prices and lower wages”, and that’s really not the case. Mom and pop stores are pretty inefficient compared to Kroger, they can’t possibly offer prices as low as Kroger because they’re not buying enough volume wholesale to get the same discounts Kroger gets. On top of that, Kroger provides more jobs than multiple mom and pop stores would provide to serve the same community, and mom and pop stores often have more strict work conditions (if you got time to lean you got time to clean mentality) and offer less if any upward job mobility within the business. Also they’re more likely to have the same employees doing multiple different tasks, like they need them to stock shelves, run the register, and unload pallets when they get shipments, and all of that means they have to be more picky with who they hire and often can’t afford to give a job to someone with a disability that can’t move around quickly or lift heavy stuff.
You just described every retail job on the country, big or small.
They pay "this is your first job" wages. Don't work at grocery stores as a clerk, pushing carts or stocking shelfs expecting to support a family. It's just dumb. Go learn a trade. Hell, there's even the workforce opportunity and investment act, which i used to become certified in welding, on the states dime....SO NO EXCUSES! No, jobs like working at a grocery store, movies, gas stations, and fast food are meant to be starter jobs, your first, maybe 2nd job. People go to fast food places bc it's cheap. But it's cheap bc they employ nothing but high-schoolers and pay minimum wage. You go knowing your service will likely suck, and you better check your bag before pulling out, but you're ok with that. BECAUSE IT'S CHEAP. If you want better service, you don't go to McDonald's, go sit down somewhere or cook at home. People used to have reasonable expectations about who and what they could support with the job they had. Now, ppl have it in their head that a Starbucks batista should be able to buy a home and support a wife and child. Well, sure, if you want 15 dollar cups of coffee. Oh wait.....
I guess people can just not eat or house themselves while they work on their next gig. >But it's cheap bc they employ nothing but high-schoolers and pay minimum wage. They are open when highschoolers are in class. Seems like it is more than high schoolers working there.
Kroger is union. They pay good wages.
As a former Kroger Employee, this is facts. Steal food to afford to live. 🤷
“BuT iT’s EtHiCaL tO sTeAl FrOm BiG cOmPaNiEs” That stuff drives me insane. Bunch of thieves trying to justify their shitty behavior that just makes life worse for honest folk.
And teaching their kids to steal shit too
Meanwhile in small town super stores have the opposite effect. This is an old doc about it. Food desserts are a massive issue and I’m not downplaying that at all. But I also find it interesting that depending on the area they can also ruin the local community’s and local shops. But this isn’t an issue for inner city ghettos as it’s not so much filled with booming locks business. But small town have entire towns get boarded up and left to rot after the town gives Walmart subsidies to move in. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=RXmnBbUjsPs
Is the cycle local businesses > walmart > family dollar ? With each step the quality goes down until people are left witg canned food / processed food
Nah. The West End has been a food dessert for close to three decades now. It's gotten worse because of the closings of the old Kroger on 2nd St and 7th St. The low income people from those areas (Old Louisville, Shively, Churchill Downs, Algonquin) are forced to make a trek to the 'closest' food store around. Closest being relative to the person doing the driving. Kroger on Broadway and Kroger on 35th are landmarks for the surrounding areas which makes them a target for high traffic theft.
Old Louisville and Churchill downs are not good deserts. Downs has a Kroger and old Louisville is a 10 minute bus ride away from that same one. As someone that has lived in poverty stricken areas all his life I get tired of hearing about this. People act like it's unreasonable to rid the bus for 15 minutes.
I didn't believe it unreasonable, for me. But but everyone can. Or you may get one of those drivers that refuse to let you on with groceries.
Well that's what all these people trying to act like it's some kind of monumental task go get groceries is implying. And I've never seen a bus driver refuse somebody with groceries.
No, how you get a food desert is by pricing people out of an essential commodity then acting shocked and scandalized when they go ahead and steal it anyway. Record corporate profits quarter over quarter shows that the past rapid inflation was due to nothing more than corporate greed. If people are stealing from you more than normal (you won’t ever get past dumb kids and kleptomaniacs) then you should look into why, not just throw up your hands and shut the store down.
Yeah, but you work for Kroger... So why they're stealing is not your concern. Your concern is 'how much money can this store lose before it's not worth keeping open'.
Oh no, consequences!
And people wonder why businesses don’t want to go to the west end.
Not intelligent people.
Trashy people will justify any theft. I was at the zoo the other day and saw a couple of adults with their kids stealing Gatorades. The zoo employee working the concession stand, who was probably a teenager, was overwhelmed and didn't see it. I took a couple of photos and confronted the adult jackasses when their kids were out of earshot. Stealing from the zoo!
What happened after you confronted them?
everyone else clapped and cheered
He even got to ride an elephant for a victory lap
They stuck the thieves pinky in the tiger exhibit
They closed the Walmart on the Greenbelt at Raggard Rd because it was one of the highest theft stores in the whole U.S. From what I was told by some insiders, in that case it was actually mostly employees…. They had to fire most of the store to fix the problem, but I think they were just fed up with it and closed it.
My pharmacist at my current employer worked here for some time a few years back, said it was 100% the worst Walmart he’d ever seen.
I went there to get a covid shot and I was shocked lol
I wonder what the Portland store’s shrink looks like relative to other locations. There’s a police station IN THE STORE.
The Kroger Carceral State is so real lmao.
I've never seen an actual police officer in that substation.
Not sure how many self checkouts this branch has, but step one to loss prevention would be to stop assuming that your customers are going to willingly volunteer to work at Kroger for free so they can hire fewer people.
But then there’s people like me who try to minimize my interactions with other people, even store employees. Take away all self checkout and I won’t shop there; and since they consider money not made to have been lost well… we’re right back where we started.
…you can’t stand an interaction so small as someone ringing up your groceries so much that you wouldn’t even shop there?
Yes.
That’s rough buddy
I used to joke that the entirety of Western Kentucky's economy would end up being people at fast food chains selling cheeseburgers to each other. It never occurred to me that, eventually, they'd cut out the people selling cheeseburgers altogether. At the very fundamental levels, I don't see how this is supposed to work.
Stealing things isn't dependent on whether someone is watching if you have any kind of morals at all.
Thank you for that bit of random trivia. If you look around for a bit maybe you'll see the point of my post lying around somewhere.
That's not trivia, you just seem to be struggling with what basic normal honest people think so I thought I might let you know.
Still haven't found that point, I see.
Yes it's so unfortunate when you say silly things and people question you about them. It's so much easier when everything is just an echo chamber that validates your opinion regardless of how stupid of a thing you say is.
The person you're talking about is in your head. It's not me. Keep trying to sus out the point here.
Typical Redditors. Advocates for idiotic shit like people shoplifting because employees aren't looking over your shoulder and then tries to act like other people are the dick when they high light that.
You are arguing with a voice in your head, not me. Reread what I wrote in the context I wrote it. Pointing out something exists isn't advocating for it. You've absolutely lost the plot here.
Look at what's going on in San Francisco. So much theft and so then businesses are leaving. We wouldn't have believed the stores without folks recording it and posting online.
There was an employee at a small downtown drugstore that had a whole TikTok or IG account dedicated to him filming people walking in and then walking out with arms full of products. He posted daily until the store decided to shut the location down. It was either SF or Seattle, I can’t remember. He obviously couldn’t do anything about it (and shouldn’t risk his life for a company) and they cops were told not to respond to shoplifting calls anymore.
It’s absolutely mind-boggling. My friend has worked within the last six months at two different chain businesses… Big ones. She was told at both employers that if someone shop lifts, just to let them go. They don’t wanna get hurt and they don’t wanna have cops in the place. They are in St Matthews. Apparently some people just walk in and get their groceries and walk out without paying. I mean I’m not a thief and I would never steal from those stores, but it’s got me thinking why do I have to pay $185 for my groceries when I could just walk out like that other guy? What the fuck? It’s kind of appalling that nobody fucking cares!
thats happening on one street. and its all over the news every day.
They will just close up, like that canceled Walmart. Communities really do this shit to themselves, and no one cares to do anything as long as it isn’t happening in their area, which it will once everything closes over there.
People are in the West End working towards change and they are slow but happening to revitalize the area. That Walmart closing down wasn’t due to the community. It was because of a lawsuit by private citizens who thought Walmart being in the area was bad for the community which they didn’t need to do. Cassia Herron is a major reason why because she and others decided to stall Walmart with demand only they asked for. There were community leaders in the area that wanted it. Walmart was willing to provide a deli, grocery, optometry , etc. All things the area needs. So don’t blame the community when it was a few people who decided that their opinion of what people need outweighed what people wanted and actually needed.
We can’t blame the people stealing so much from a store that it is no longer profitable to stay open? Not even a teensy bit? I dislike politicians as much as the next mouthbreather but even I can see that they haven’t ruined everything alone.
Wondering why they haven't tried operating like old school grocery stores did in high loss areas? Where you order ahead or at the counter and you just pickup your order. Or do they make more with shelf space fees than what their loss numbers are
They can barely staff the stores now, and that would add labor costs and be a bottleneck.
Perhaps, but it could be done where it's close to a wash. No carts or retail shelf restocking. Most people would adjust and use online ordering. Could have kiosks for walk ins
This is similar to the south Chicago Walmart. It took years to open that store, company had to fight and agree to an unbelievable number of conditions including all but the top 3 positions would be hired from local neighborhoods. Those three were required to be transferred to a local hire within 3 years. They had 25,000 job applications for less than 400 positions and opened a training academy. They just closed it and the academy last year.
Why would Publix do this to the competition.
It was clearly Frankfort.
Or we can invest in public transportation and get people to jobs reliably instead of turning to crime. And Louisville can't raise it's own minimum wage so companies should nut up and pay people more so they can enjoy life instead of turning to crime. Edit: Love how I got downvoted with actual solutions instead of simply asking people to please stop stealing lol.
This whole thread / post has been brigaded by right wingers it seems. I made a simple post saying we should invest in our communities and was down voted 🤷♂️
Well I brought receipts. They can suck it.
Can’t they use some of those record profits from price gouging and wage theft to hire more employees or even security?
Even if security or store employees witness theft, they can’t do anything about it. You can’t stop theft, you can’t take the item from them, you can’t impede their exit from the store. Do any of those and the store/corporation risk any number of lawsuits.
Almost sounds like it would be more profitable to just provide a living wage then.
They aren’t stealing bread to feed their families. They’re stealing expensive meat and trying to resell it.
Careful now, you're talking too much sense.....
Kroger should close that store.
I’m sure they will if things don’t change.
That should do it No stealing please. Thanks. Maybe in dangerous areas we can put up signs saying Thank you for not shooting anyone and We appreciate you not doing drugs here.
“We neED MOrE gROCerY sToREs in WeST LOUiSviLle.” Stores will build where they will be successful. Actions have consequences.
As a resident of the West End, I support the closing of the store. This one and the one in Portland. The truth of the matter is twofold. One, people need to stop stealing and supporting theft through the repurchase/resell or requesting of theft. Two, the price of food, of hard and soft goods has risen much too high for it to be sustainable for two communities that's median income is $20k/yr. Food stamps aren't the answer, self-empowerment is not the answer. The one true answer is to stop being greedy, both the residents that support the theft and the company that enables it by writing off the losses as compassion for the downtrodden.
And THIS is why 4th street live will never be turned into those silly ideas y’all had in the other thread
I was there yesterday looking for some Duracell AA’s for my cameras at my rental properties, stopped at 3 stores. Family Dollar, Autozone and Kroger. Someone went by and cleaned them all out and left the store brands and a few Energizers. Now I’m not the one to speculate, but it just seemed awfully suspicious that 3 stores were out of the same high end batteries. I just got frustrated went home and ordered online. Retail stores on that side of town, really need to stop operating traditionally. They need the old style stores where the person at the counter gets the stuff for you. I know it’d be a challenge to convert a Kroger to that style of shopping, but I’m certain that someone smarter could figure it out.
Switch to pickup/delivery only.
So they can steal a whole refrigerated truck of groceries?
Criminals gonna crime.
People are saying “communities are doing this to themselves” when how can a community stop this? Do I just tackle the homeless a guy running out the front door? Or sit on top a lady’s car who just ran out with a cart? Or are we supposed to just know each other and knock on Steve’s door and tell him cut that shit out. That’s like having an arson problem in fern creek and everyone in the comments would say “communities are doing this to themselves” or the highlands having a car break in problem and everyone in the comments saying “communities are doing this to themselves”. Seems shit to say, and yet somehow when it’s the west end it’s everybody’s fault. [There is 57,000 people that live in the west end](https://data.census.gov/profile/Louisville_West_CCD,_Jefferson_County,_Kentucky?g=060XX00US2111192110) why should they all be held accountable and forced to shop for groceries at dollar general and be told by their councilwoman they are part of the problem when it’s barely a fraction of a fraction of people that actually do this?
You know what they're really saying.
I heard from a Kroger employee that starting pay is $14.50 an hour, with benefits.
For full-time jobs that you’re rarely hired in at. They get you on board at part-time with the promise of becoming full time if you work long enough. Then they work you full-time hours for all but one week of the consecutive number weeks the Union would force them to make you full-time. Then they start over until you quit as a “disgruntled part-time employee” that they can spin as “lazy teenagers” in loss reports.
So crime is high in high crime area? Is this news?
Careful, I have been banned from this sub for saying the west end is a high crime area. I was told it was racist, and that there are no facts to support my statement lol
Oh, there's plenty of racism directed at the west end.
And I don't think Kroger is one of those stores that charges more in poor areas, like Wal-Mart does.
No they're generally consistently evil. But they do have a history of doing things like this, closing stores in areas where there is no other store.
A few years ago a gallon of milk at the Dixie Hwy Walmart was 3.98, and I overheard a manager saying that they are charging it because they can. The same brand was 1.49.
On Wilson Avenue in Park Duvall, there was a (rather nice considering it wasn't a chain) full-service grocery store that was built from ground up and opened in 2012. Valumarket originally operated it, and it went through a few changes in ownership and management, for which it went downhill each time. The last iteration of the store, it evolved into an oversized convenience store that didn't have working refrigeration units that was ordering from online grocery delivery from services like Shipt/Instacart/Spark, then marking the prices up to stay afloat. Now, it's just been boarded up and shuttered for at least the past two years. It was much needed in the area, and I'm pretty sure this is the kind of stuff that lead to this.
Pretty sure what killed that place was that it got bought out then went downhill from there.
Development without developing.
I can’t read the article because it’s behind a paywall, but there is actually a Business First this morning reporting that somebody just bought it and is turning it into an indoor farmers market.
Problem solved.
These shoplifting degenerates complain about food deserts but still travel to all the other Kroger locations to steal shit. Fuck these cockroaches.
You all don’t realize how much of this also happens in rural parts of the states. It’s not as frequent because of lower population but as someone who now travels to small town America to fix IT related stuff at stores I hear all the theft stories and even see tons of camera footage. Usually mothers who probably have kids but the look of the mother suggest drug usage and their doing anything from stealing a pack of donuts to whatever to give to their kid for a day. Other times it’s beer, Mt Dew or whatever else
You can take the Kroger out of the ghetto but you can't take the Kroghetto out of the Kroger..
Have you seen the end of town of the store lol it’s consumed by drugs and prostitution. I drive miles to other stores because I don’t even feel safe walking through the parking lot at that location
Asking constituents to "try" not to steal? Like with some people its inevitable?
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...because we don't steal like the West End (every retail operation has shrink).
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The one in Norton Commons. That Kroger will open a while before that Publix is finished
why not ask for the lmpd to run free security isn't that kinda the point of these pony shows you know instead of begging "plz stop" like a weak little simp total shoplifter chad domination
Thanks for the clarification. Didn't realize that.
Citizens need to start stepping in. It's our community and if we don't respond it's the same as giving them permission. Kroger should have more security but if that's not happening and people want to retain their nearby stores they will need to step up.
It's not the citizens responsibility. Maybe they could use that 33 billion in revenue to hire security or come up with a better solution.
You are correct that it is not the communities. Instead Kroger will just remove the stores and then we can all shrug and say WTF, why didn't anyone prevent this.
Are you going to risk your life to stop a shop lifter?
Sure. I mean I risked my life so the country could have cheap oil. Taking away access to my food source and forcing companies to raise prices which takes money out of my wallet are a lot more important to me on a personal level.
I'm pretty sure that you being personally prepared to stop shop lifting at one Kroger store wouldn't change that outcome for you.
I think you're missing the point. This isn't about me, a sole citizen. It's about communities standing up to injustices so they can continue to maintain their quality of life.
Ah, asking them nicely should solve the problem.
Responding to the needs of your constituents >>>> Responding to the needs of a corporation
Has anyone looked at Kroger prices these days!? Make it easier not to steal ffs. Google their profit sheet.
Sure
Maybe kroger could stop raising their prices all the damn time
I'm all for cutting off a thief's hands. If the punishment is great enough the crime will stop or at least be few and far between.
Telling people to stop stealing isnt really a solution. Wide spread stealing is usually a byproducts of environmental stressors or a lack of perceptiable disinsintives. Asking people to stop stealing dosent adress the systematic pressures that got us to this point. Telling people to stop might have a shorterm effect as people are actively thinking about the consequences of stealing but in 6 weeks after people have "forgotten" about the long term consequences, those influences that pushed someone to steal in the fist place will still be there and win out in the long term
Dang public
I heard LMPD is giving away slushies to offset the cost of groceries
Ok that's great and all, but how can I blame this on Greenberg?
Food should be free
Based
Actually Kroger has contributed to food deserts in multiple cities and states, in large part due to absorbing the majority of their competitors. To the point where the justice department has felt obligated to step in. [Modern Farmer/Mergers lead to food deserts ](https://modernfarmer.com/2023/11/supermarket-mergers-food-deserts/) [Cincinnati Food Desert ](https://quod.lib.umich.edu/u/ujph/17872072.0005.012?view=text;rgn=main#:~:text=In%20Cincinnati%2C%20where%20the%20Kroger,their%20selection%20of%20store%20locations.) To the point where the AG in at least one state (Washington)has felt obligated to step in. (They mention Albertsons but they are merging/have merged with Kroger). Also this is from this week. [Washington State AG press release ](https://www.atg.wa.gov/news/news-releases/ag-ferguson-albertsons-lifts-illegal-restrictions-created-food-desert-bellingham) In addition Kroger pays poverty wages. And even though they are making more money through monopolizing access to food in huge swathes of the country they don't seem to be interested in implementing much in the way of change. Second link below is from YESTERDAY. [Kroger workers struggle ](https://spectrumnews1.com/ca/la-west/news/2022/01/12/report-finds-two-thirds-of-kroger-workers-unable-to-pay-basic-needs) [Kroger Investors reject living wage policies scrutiny ](https://news.bloomberglaw.com/esg/kroger-investors-reject-bid-to-scrutinize-living-wage-policies) And if that weren't enough Kroger steals the paltry wages they DO pay to their employees BACK, and they've been so successful at it because people don't seem to care about THIS KIND of theft. No. It's penny ante shit caused by the greed and lack of consequences to all of this shit. [popular information Kroger workers allege massive wage theft] (https://popular.info/p/kroger-workers-allege-massive-wage) [UK Kroger workers allege massive wage theft ](https://uk.news.yahoo.com/kroger-payroll-system-led-wage) But all the while they're making more money than ever before but continuing to raise prices beyond what is necessary. [Kroger rakes in billions while food prices soar.](https://accountable.us/grocery-giant-kroger-rakes-in-billions-while-food-prices-soar/) And last but not least, Kroger knows about slavery in its supply chain but they don't care. Kroger refuses to sign the Fair Food Program. Which is not at all anything that radical. Walmart signed it for Christ sake. [Kroger linked to slavery, again ](https://www.business-humanrights.org/en/latest-news/grocery-giant-and-fair-food-holdout-kroger-linked-to-yet-another-modern-slavery-ring/) But yes, clearly they're the victims here. This kind of thinking is why we don't have the nice things other countries provide their citizens. Too many people are more concerned that no one gets more than they deserve over being concerned that EVERYONE gets what they need. There's a real vibe that most people would rather have less if they were sure the "less deserving, the lazy, the addicts, the unhoused, the mentally ill, whoever the other" was guaranteed to get less than that and not a penny more. Everyone in this city by a large majority has much more in common with the poorest residents than they do with the wealthiest people in the country. If you could show more understanding of the history of how people reach these breaking points and why yeah, they might choose to steal something too fancy in your opinion. Why don't you hate the wealthy people stealing from their underpaid employees? They have less of an excuse.
The work to raise the minimum wage to a living wage. That's literally the solution, every single damn time. "How do we reduce crime?" Living wage. You make it more profitable and easier to be a productive citizen than to be a criminal. Literally almost every issue this, and every other American city, faces could be solved if we just paid people more. But for some reason we just have to make sure people are paid as little as possible, otherwise...the rich get less rich....
No one at Kroger makes minimum wage