Laneice Moore, an Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner in Ward 8, shops at the Alabama Avenue Giant in Southeast D.C. all the time — and she says shoplifting at that supermarket is nothing new.
“They’ve been doing that for years,” she told WTOP.
But she said the decision to take national brands Tide, Colgate and Advil off the shelves is not the correct method of action.
“It’s not going to stop people from shoplifting,” Moore said.
Moore believes the supermarket chain should hire more security officers, adding that she does not want to see the store close its doors especially because it’s located in a food desert area.
“Why [can’t property managers] provide security to walk to the store, to do their job, to secure the items that’s in your store,” Moore said.
In a statement this weekend about the decision to stop stocking some major national brands, Giant cited rampant, “unprecedented” theft, saying the current crime levels have made the business of carrying certain products unsustainable.
In addition, the Southeast store has installed more cameras, and customers can expect to have their receipts checked before they leave the store.
Concern about a rise in shoplifting and questions about the future of some Giant stores in D.C. have been swirling for months. In June, Giant Food President Ira Kress told WTOP the company had seen a sharp rise in store thefts, including by large, organized crime rings, and that if the problem didn’t get better, the company could closed some stores.
At the time, other measures put in place by the supermarket included putting some items under lock and key and eliminating secondary entrances.
Last month, Ward 8 Council member Trayon White held a rally with residents calling on the grocery chain to remain at its Alabama Avenue location. By that point, the store said it had lost half a million dollars in product — about 20% of its sales — and had spent $300,000 on security efforts.
Moore said they will be discussing the latest move by Giant to no longer stock certain national brands at the ANC A8 meeting at the housing building on Martin Luther King Avenue on Sept. 12 at 7 p.m.
