Rio Tinto Shares Hit Record High After Ending Glencore Merger Talks 
American Airlines CEO to Meet Pilots Union Amid Storm Response and Financial Concerns 
FDA Targets Hims & Hers Over $49 Weight-Loss Pill, Raising Legal and Safety Concerns 
Prudential Financial Reports Higher Q4 Profit on Strong Underwriting and Investment Gains 
Gold and Silver Prices Climb in Asian Trade as Markets Eye Key U.S. Economic Data 
Bank of Japan Signals Readiness for Near-Term Rate Hike as Inflation Nears Target 
Trump Signs Executive Order Threatening 25% Tariffs on Countries Trading With Iran 
Global PC Makers Eye Chinese Memory Chip Suppliers Amid Ongoing Supply Crunch 
Indian Refiners Scale Back Russian Oil Imports as U.S.-India Trade Deal Advances 
Dollar Near Two-Week High as Stock Rout, AI Concerns and Global Events Drive Market Volatility 
Vietnam’s Trade Surplus With US Jumps as Exports Surge and China Imports Hit Record 
UK Starting Salaries See Strongest Growth in 18 Months as Hiring Sentiment Improves 
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang Says AI Investment Boom Is Just Beginning as NVDA Shares Surge 
Alphabet’s Massive AI Spending Surge Signals Confidence in Google’s Growth Engine 
Japanese Pharmaceutical Stocks Slide as TrumpRx.gov Launch Sparks Market Concerns 
China Extends Gold Buying Streak as Reserves Surge Despite Volatile Prices 
OpenAI Expands Enterprise AI Strategy With Major Hiring Push Ahead of New Business Offering 
Walgreens will be closing five more stores in San Francisco, and this move was due to thefts in the city. The go-to pharmacy and Health & Wellness store said that brazen shoplifting incidence has been a problem, and this has resulted in big losses for the company.
Walgreens said on Tuesday, Oct. 12, that the organized crime plaguing the territory is its main problem. The firm said that organized retail crime is ongoing, so it continues to be a challenge for most retailers in the area, and even major establishments like them are not immune to it.
“Due to ongoing organized retail crime, we have made the difficult decision to close five stores across San Francisco,” the company’s spokesperson told FOX Business. “Each store will transfer prescriptions to a nearby Walgreens location within a mile radius and we expect to place the stores’ team members in other nearby locations.”
The spokesperson added that in the past few months, the incidence of retail theft in Walgreens’ stores in San Francisco continued to increase up to five times on average. He further explained that in an effort to provide a safe environment to customers and the staff, the company took measures to stop the problem by investing in added security for the stores, but the problem still persisted.
It was reported that critics are blaming a California referendum that was voted and passed in 2014. Because of this, the theft of property has been downgraded to a simple misdemeanor if the value involved is $950 and below. In the course of the summer, the California Retailers Association stated that the cities - San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Sacramento - have some of the highest records for organized retail crime in the country.
It was mentioned that since the start of 2019, Walgreens closed down at least 10 of its outlet stores in the city. At any rate, San Francisco Gate reported that the five Walgreens stores facing shut down next month in San Francisco are the ones at 2550 Ocean Ave. (Nov. 8), 4645 Mission St. (Nov. 11), 745 Clement St. (Nov. 15), 300 Gough St. (Nov. 15), and 3400 Cesar Chavez St. will close on Nov. 17.
