As prospects begin to see decrease costs on 1000’s of things at Cease & Store, an organization consultant says the Quincy-based regional grocery store chain continues to grapple with shoplifting.
Cheaper “here-to-stay” prices are rolling out at Cease & Store’s 88 shops throughout Japanese Massachusetts, half of a bigger multi-year technique to make groceries extra reasonably priced within the Bay State.
Whereas the initiative is just not linked to shoplifting, organized retail crime stays on the firm’s radar, in accordance with Jennifer Barr, Cease & Store’s director of exterior communications and group relations.
“It is a separate issue,” Barr advised the Herald when requested whether or not the decrease prices might assist deter shoplifting, “but it is certainly one that every major retailer is facing these days. We are working closely with our industry trade organizations to raise visibility around it.”
Earlier this 12 months, Cease & Store President Roger Wheeler revealed that the corporate had been confronted with “more economic challenges than ever before,” together with organized retail crime. Theft and a slew of different elements prompted an escalation in costs.
Wheeler highlighted the shoplifting subject in a letter despatched to members of the Massachusetts delegation in response to an inquiry about potential worth gouging at Cease & Store’s city retailer areas.
“Retail theft is a major concern for retailers like us, and we need legislators to act swiftly by advancing legislation … to help protect our customers and associates,” Wheeler stated within the letter, despatched in Could.
Wheeler is advocating for passage of the Combating Organized Retail Crime Act, federal laws that might look to “crack down on flash mob robberies and intricate retail theft schemes.”
The laws has not seen any motion since being reintroduced in April.
A pair of Taunton girls had been indicted in 2023 on prices that they stole practically $27,000 in Cease & Store merchandise from shops throughout an organized counterfeit coupon operation that spanned three months.
The Retailers Affiliation of Massachusetts estimated in 2023 that organized felony theft exercise prices Bay State firms about $2 billion a 12 months. In 2018, the state Legislature elevated the felony threshold for larceny from $250 to $1,200.
Boston Police Commissioner Michael Cox stated in July that shoplifting was up 15% via the primary half of this 12 months, in comparison with the identical interval final 12 months.
Relating to Cease & Store’s new prices, Barr stated she couldn’t converse to the corporate’s pricing technique. She added that prospects can anticipate reductions of between 5% and 40% on objects which can be shopped for many, from Italian bread to rooster broth – nationwide and firm manufacturers.
The corporate consultant additionally indicated that the long-term transformation technique, which has seen shops reworked and improved in-store experiences for patrons, was introduced nicely earlier than the Market Basket mess.
“We are just focused on what we are doing and really improving the customer experience at our stores,” Barr advised the Herald. “We have been in this state for more than 100 years. … We are iconic, and we are looking to deliver the value that our customers are looking for at this moment in time.”
Jon Hurst, president of the Retailers Affiliation of Massachusetts, referred to as Cease & Store’s decrease on a regular basis costs “great news for consumers at a time when costs are challenging in our region for consumers and employers alike.”
“It goes to show how a competitive marketplace keeps prices as low as possible and service levels strong to keep customers loyal and returning again and again,” Hurst advised the Herald.
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