Shoplifting's biggest enablers might be the retailers themselves

Tech Insider
People shopping in a Walmart.
People shopping at a Walmart Supercenter store in Rosemead, California, in 2019.

FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP via Getty Images

Why we don't actually know whether retail theft is a big problem

Tech Insider
A store employee wearing a red vest and a black long-sleeved shirt handles a jug of laundry detergent at a locked case with other jugs of Downy detergent on shelves. At the top of the photo, a keychain hangs from the lock used to secure the shelf when it's not open.
Many retailers have locked up goods in response to a supposed rise in retail theft.

Lindsey Nicholson/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

Dollar General is taking checkout back out of your hands because of theft

Tech Insider
Two people, one wearing a pink hoodie and pink sandals, the other pushing a stroller with a toddler in it, walk on the sidewalk past a brick building and a yellow-and-black sign that reads
Dollar General is cutting self-checkout at hundreds of stores.

Scott Olson/Getty Images

Dollar Tree will sell items for $7, straying further from its single-price model

Tech Insider
Exterior of a Dollar Tree
Dollar Tree will sell $7 items this year, including food, pet care, and personal care.

SOPA Images/Getty Images

200-Foot Radio Tower Mysteriously Vanishes in Alabama

Gizmodo

Stealing is bad—we all know that. However, sometimes a theft is so masterly that it transcends our moral system and becomes impressive. I would argue that this is the case with a theft that took place in Jasper, Alabama, where unknown thieves recently ransacked a local radio station, stealing everything in sight,…

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Trader Joe's stores in California are being targeted by thieves who swipe customers' wallets from their carts as they shop, police say

Tech Insider
Female shopper buying groceries in a store for home essentials holding smartphone, pushing a cart with kitchen towel and fresh herbs

Adene Sanchez/Getty Images

Canadian police are looking for a 500-pound taxidermy polar bear stolen from a resort in frigid, below-zero weather

Tech Insider
Harry the stuffed polar bear atop his platform.
Harry the stuffed polar bear was typically found atop his platform at the Lionsheart Wellness Center, a resort executive told The Globe and Mail.

Royal Canadian Mounted Police

An Amish family had their horse and buggy stolen from a Walmart parking lot while they were shopping, police say

Tech Insider
Amish men driving a horse and buggy on a country road.
Amish men driving a horse and buggy on a country road.

Grant Faint/Getty Images

A woman stole $2,500 of Stanley cups in a brazen heist, police say, amid an escalating national craze

Tech Insider
The Stanley products that were recovered from a 23-year-old suspect's car.
The Stanley products that police said were recovered from a 23-year-old suspect's car.

Roseville Police Department

Rich people are more likely to steal from self-checkout. Why?

Tech Insider : Economy
A person self-scans an item at a self-checkout at Lowes.
In a recent survey, people with household incomes of more than $100,000 were the group that most admitted they stole items from a self-checkout.

Jeff Greenberg/Getty Images

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