Grocers, Restaurants Boost Security to Confront Rising Crime

With rising crime rates, restaurants and grocery stores are revising their operations, including making changes to store hours and spending more on security.

Some are even closing stores entirely, as Starbucks recently announced that it’s closing 16 of its U.S. stores after workers reported facing various challenges and disruptions, including situations related to drug use.

As The Wall Street Journal wrote Sunday (July 17), there are reports that more stores will likely be closing. Interim Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz said that while the stores were profitable, the closures had to do with employee safety concerns.

“We are facing things that the stores weren’t built for,” Schultz said, per the report. “We are listening to our people and closing stores.”

Schultz added that local governments should be doing more to fight crime, including helping with mental illness issues, to bolster safety efforts.

Starbucks is not the only business to face these issues. Casual dining chain Noodles has been experiencing drug use in its bathrooms, per the release, and has been training employees how to respond to those situations.

Meanwhile, supermarket chain Kroger has also said there has been an increase in organized theft, which has reportedly put pressure on its profit margins for the first time ever.

The report noted that food establishments and customers have been airing more grievances about the increase in crime since people started going out more after the quarantine period of 2020.

According to the report, 44% of the adults surveyed said they were more afraid to be in public because of the increase in violence. That was an increase from 36% of adults saying this in March, per a survey from food service research firm Lisa W. Miller & Associates.

In May, PYMNTS wrote that Starbucks was working on turning the attention away from on-premises spaces to boost digital order fulfillment.

See also: Starbucks Shifts Focus From In-Store Experience to Digital Efficiency

The coffee chain has over 34,000 locations around the world, and at the time, leaders said on a call with analysts that the company is looking at stepping up its tech investment.

“Going forward, we will … be making significant investments to extend our digital capabilities and deepen our digital connection to customers and the emotional attachment our customers have to the Starbucks brand,” Schultz said at the time. “Returns on our digital investments are consistently among the highest returns we generate.”

For all PYMNTS retail coverage, subscribe to the daily Retail Newsletter.