Rite Aid mulls putting merchandise behind showcases in New York City

According to Fox 5 New York, Rite Aid is contemplating putting all of its merchandise in showcases in New York City in an effort to curb retail theft.

In late September, Rite Aid executives cited shrink, a term that retailers use to describe theft, as an issue the pharmacy chain is dealing with during the company's quarterly earnings call.

Heyward Donigan said Rite Aid experienced unexpected headwinds from shrink, particularly in New York City stores. According to the headline here, the environment in New York City is not conducive to reducing shrink based on everything you read and see on social media and news in the city. Rite Aid posted a $331.3 million net loss for the third quarter of 2022, up from $100.3 million a year ago. Matt Schroeder, Rite Aid's CFO, said during the earnings call that Rite Aid's front-end gross profit was impacted by a $5 million increase in shrink. During the earnings call, Persaud noted that Rite Aid has made progress on product protection, improving our organized retail client program, and stated that the drug store chain's goal is to stay in the communities. He said that we're looking at literally putting everything behind showcases to make sure the product is there for customers who want to buy it.

Rite Aid has considered operating a pharmacy only and operating a pharmacy prescription-only format in some communities, he said. Off-duty police officers have been placed in some stores, according to the company.

FOX Business reached out to Rite Aid for comment on the matter.

Rite Aid closed its locations in New York's Hell's Kitchen and Upper East Side neighborhoods earlier in the year.

A store sources told the outlet people have stolen over $200,000 in items over the past couple of months, and there was an instance of alleged shoplifting in January at the Hell's Kitchen location.

Michael Rapaport, the actor and comedian, said he was in the Upper East Side store in January when he saw someone load a pair of bags full of stolen items. Rapaport captured a thief passing a store security guard as he left holding the bags.

A Rite Aid spokeswoman previously told FOX Business that stores were closing for a number of reasons based on months-long reviews that were carried out across the full footprint of 2,500 stores. The shuttering of over 60 stores across the country was a result of Rite Aid's store closing plan.