Walmart and Walgreen’s Security Measures Anger Louisiana Shoppers

Along the banks of the Bayou Teche in South Louisiana, you'll find several smaller communities. In those communities such as Port Barre, Cecilia, Loreauville, and Charenton you'll find hard-working people who are as honest as the day is long. And it's that suggestion of dishonesty that has a lot of small-town shoppers or major retailers such as Walmart and Walgreens seeing red.

My dad always used to say this about honesty " A lock will only keep an honest man out, a thief will find a way". I do believe that observation is spot on. And as usual, it's "the honest man" who is taking the heat of inconvenience that was brought about by the actions of those who are dishonest.

Retail theft is a major problem in this country. Huge retailers such as Target have closed entire stores in crime-ridden areas because the loss of product and profit in those locations has been too great. Once again the honest man is forced to be inconvenienced because some parents didn't teach their kids not to steal.

This brings us to the latest "loss prevention" techniques that have been put in place by retailers such as Walmart and Walgreens. In order to prevent items from being stolen from their stores those two retailers have started the practice of locking up the most stolen items. 

That means in order for a customer to add them to their cart a store associate will have to come "unlock" the display case or remove an electronic tag so the customer won't be accused of a crime at checkout.  The policy is great for the store. It absolutely sucks for customers.

If you've ever had to get an item from a secured display you know that store employees become invisible the moment you need their help. I once waited fifteen minutes for an associate at one of the aforementioned retailers to unlock a piece of electronic gear I needed.

The "locked up merchandise" is also creating havoc among those who shop for a living, that would be employees of Shipt and Instacart. They don't get paid by the hour, they get paid by the delivery. Having to wait fifteen minutes for "a manager with a key" can literally pull money out of their pockets.

Some personal shoppers now say they just avoid Walmart and Walgreens because of the anti-theft policy. I suppose you have to do what you have to do. But it does seem as if the simpler solution would be for folks to just not steal.  I know it's such an outlandish concept.