Walgreens closes five more San Francisco locations, citing ‘organized retail crime’

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Walgreens is closing five more San Francisco locations as drug stores from the Bay Area to the Big Apple are besieged by rampant shoplifting and lax enforcement.

San Fran shoplifters have been emboldened by a referendum that lowered the penalty for stealing goods worth less than $950 from a felony to a misdemeanor, cops and prosecutors have said.

A spokesperson for the company confirmed the latest closures to SFGate.

“Organized retail crime continues to be a challenge facing retailers across San Francisco, and we are not immune to that,” Walgreens spokesperson Phil Caruso told the outlet.

“Retail theft across our San Francisco stores has continued to increase in the past few months to five times our chain average. During this time to help combat this issue, we increased our investments in security measures in stores across the city to 46 times our chain average in an effort to provide a safe environment.”

The retailer had previously shuttered 17 stores in San Francisco during the past five years, Fox News reported.

A member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors said the new closures will “significantly impact” the community.

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