Shoplifting sinks another D.C. business as workers look to quit over safety

A shopping center that once symbolized the District of Columbia’s renaissance will lose another business next month because of repeated theft.

The news was announced after a nationwide study found that retail workers want to change jobs because of crime.

Petco confirmed that its store at the DC USA mall will close on Jan. 12. The San Diego-based company said the closure is based on an evaluation of its real estate portfolio.

The statement didn’t mention theft, which one local Petco employee said chipped away at the business’ viability.

The employee said criminals regularly swipe cans and bags of animal food before running out of the store. Managers sometimes try to catch the thieves but aren’t successful, he said.

The employee came to the U.S. from Turkey less than one year ago. He said he had heard about crime in American cities, but it was “more than I expected once I got here.”

Petco opened at the mall in 2013. Operator Grid Properties Inc. pitched the shopping center as the “cornerstone” of Columbia Heights’ “revitalization efforts.”

The pet store will be the second major company to leave the neighborhood in a year because of crime.

Across the street, the site of a former CVS Pharmacy that closed in February remains empty. Shoplifters ransacked the store so often that its barren shelves made national headlines.

The local Petco’s theft issues are not nearly as severe, but a city-contracted security guard outside the store said thieves are brazen.

He said the same handful of teenagers or young adults are behind the thefts. The guard said they shoplift from the pet store and DSW next to it because they are “just looking for something to do.”

A DSW employee said the shoe outlet does experience theft but he hadn’t heard anything about a store closure.

The unarmed guard said his only obligation is to report theft. He is not required to stop shoplifters, and he criticized DSW for letting known thieves back into the store to cause mayhem.

“They’re not doing anything to stop it, so I’m not going to go out of my way to confront people,” the guard told The Washington Times. “I ride the Metro to work. I don’t want them following me home.”

The fear of workplace crime leaking into personal lives is motivating retail employees to reconsider their jobs, according to a study conducted by the Loss Prevention Research Council in partnership with retail security firm Verkada.

Forty percent of employees surveyed said they would quit their retail jobs next year because of “personal safety concerns.”

Most of that fear arises from witnessing theft (60%). More than half of the 1,000 respondents also said they experienced or witnessed threats (54%) or verbal harassment (51%) from shoppers.

Read Hayes, executive director of the Loss Prevention Research Council, said retail workers are asking whether — or when — criminals could become more hostile.

“They’re not attacking people right now, but they’re taking their stuff, and they don’t seem to be overly concerned that there might be some consequences,” Mr. Hayes told The Times.

More than half (52%) of retail workers in cities and 40% of suburban retail workers said they experienced some form of violence on the job. Grocery stores and big-box retailers, such as Target and Walmart, are where employees were victimized the most.

A majority of workers who experienced violence (67%) said they were looking to change jobs.

The study found that women felt more unsafe at work (31%) than men (24%).

Most women (65%) and men (56%) said they had witnessed theft at their job.

Store managers were more likely to rate their business’ security measures favorably (50%) than cashiers (41%) and sales associates (37%).

Mr. Hayes said managers often run through mental checklists while employees interact with customers or notice problems at a micro level.

The researcher suggested the retail shopping experience will undergo significant changes. He said businesses want to “increase the effort” it takes for thieves to steal but want to reward good customers with special sales or ways to access secured items without needing employee assistance.

Mr. Hayes suggested using cellphone numbers or facial recognition technology as digital keys to unlock protective casings.