I am the contrarian.

But it's based on what I've observed in recent years.

I have the hidden curse of life experience as a big-store retail manager of some 13 years. Back in 2020 when I observed people looting, busting apart storefronts, thieving and other crimes being committed as law-abiding people were in their homes locked down, I said to my hubs, "This is how they create deserts of food and supplies." He's never had any background in retail. He was curious.

I point-blank told him, "Someone is pulling the strings to get these essential stores shut down. In states where the felony limit had been raised to $950 per offense is where this started. Thugs go in, rob the store blind, store restocks, writes off shrink, store gets robbed, store restocks, writes off shrink, lather rinse repeat. What happens...? After a year's worth of unacceptable shrink (loss as opposed to profit), corporate says 'Get this under control. We're coming to see you.' Manager says 'We can't get it under control; it's the law. We can't stop the theft.' Corporate then says 'Okay. We're shutting down your store.'" My hubs didn't believe it, because it was WALGREEN'S and CVS, ffs. Those are ubiquitous!

I said, "You watch."

And here we are.

I believe it's part of the Cloward-Piven strategy. Whereas C-P intends to overload the welfare system, creating ultimately chaos and riots and unrest, why not start it a little early by making the welfare recipients think it's okay to get a head start on everyone else by ALLOWING them to rob and thieve until nothing is left...? Then when the stores shut down as part of a massive drawing-in of resources, that certainly leaves a "food desert" or "supplies desert" (I mean, how many diabetics did that Walgreen's serve...? Women on birth control? Someone fighting addiction with the assistance of a drug that's only by prescription? Babies who need a specialized formula? ALL of that found at Walgreen's or CVS...not so much Sears, but, you know.) You look at the types of people these shut-downs affect, and suddenly you are able to see a connection to the demographics that were stealing that store blind: Low-income, low resources, low options.

Perfect combination to force people to take drastic action, which is what C-P wants: An entire society impacted negatively by a store shut-down, something that could easily have been prevented if A - The stores could actually count on cops to apprehend thieves and B - penalties were so stiff that no one dared attempt to steal from these necessary businesses.

But it's not been prevented.

And now here we are. And people want to blame such closures on Amazon or ease of ordering online, etc. But that ain't it. The folks these closures impact aren't the types of folks that order online, and anyway, a lot of the things in a drug store can't be just ordered and sent.

This was a planned occurrence, and more are planned. And the room-temp-IQs and low-information folks are still sitting there slack-jawed scratching their heads saying "Ah dunno WHY this is a-happenin."

And as I've seen from many posting on RMN these days, they don't want to embrace the efforts of the guy who really is the only one who can help.

I'd say "Get me outta here" but there's nowhere else to go.

~A.

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: From Reader Jen.. Thank you!

: **************************

: https://youtu.be/LGkusQEo1R8

:

: May 23, 2025
: Here's a fact that will stop you in your tracks: Sears, which
: once employed more Americans than the US military, now has
: fewer stores than Starbucks locations in Manhattan. The
: company that built the American middle class is down to
: just 11 stores nationwide. Eleven. That's the death of an
: empire.

: In just the past 12 months, major retailers have announced
: over 3,200 permanent store closures. CVS is shutting down
: 900 locations. Walgreens is closing 1,200 stores. Even
: Dollar Tree is liquidating hundreds of Family Dollar
: locations.

: These aren't pandemic casualties. These are permanent
: shutdowns of profitable stores in busy shopping centers.
: The entire business model of physical retail is collapsing.
: High rents that made sense when foot traffic was guaranteed
: now feel like death sentences. Organized theft rings are
: stealing stores out of business. An entire generation has
: simply stopped shopping in stores.

: What you're witnessing is the systematic dismantling of
: America's massively over-built retail infrastructure.