Amazon has announced it will be closing several grocery stores in high crime cities like NYC, Seattle and San Francisco, but claims the measure is related to “cost-cutting.”
The retail giant said it would be permanently shutting down eight of its 29 Amazon Go stores, which are designed for maximum convenience as the shopper can just scan the items as they leave, with no staff required.
Criminals can also conveniently jump over the barrier with no one there to stop them.
Despite the cashier-free system helping Amazon’s bottom line, the company claimed it was closing the outlets because they haven’t met profitability expectations.
“The stores being closed include two in downtown Seattle that had already been shut on a temporary basis, leaving five in the city. In addition it is closing two in New York City and four in San Francisco. The six closings of stores still operating are due to take place April 1,” reports CNN.
The first such store opened by Amazon in 2016 in Seattle was subsequently looted by Black Lives Matter “protesters” during the George Floyd riots.
As we highlighted yesterday, Walmart is also closing its final two stores in Portland, but cited the same ‘profitability’ excuse as Amazon, prompting widespread skepticism.
Jeremy Girard of the Oregon Retail Crime Association says shoplifting in the city has a “crisis level” and stores are losing $5 million per year to theft.
“We’re having big retailers leave,” said Jordan Zaitz, a member of the Portland Police’s Neighborhood Response Team. “I mean, to have Walmart close two of its stores is a really big deal. The people in those neighborhoods, that’s where they shop.”
In related news, numerous other grocery stores across the country are closing their doors for good.
Walmart is closing two more stores in Illinois, one in New Mexico and one in Florida all before the end of this week, as well as another in DC. Two Kroger stores in Ohio are also closing this week, while Sprouts Farmers Market is closing nearly a dozen locations by the end of this year. Stop & Shop is also axing locations in New Jersey and Massachusetts.
As we highlight in the video below, thanks to ‘defund the police’ movements and lax attitudes towards drug enforcement and shoplifting, the mad, the mentally ill and criminal mobs are taking over the streets of America.
Reporting from Summit News.
