Big stores including Walmart, Home Depot facing 'historic' levels of theft
Former Chrysler chairman and CEO Bob Nardelli on big nationwide retailers facing historic levels of theft and other crimes.
Feminist journalist Jessica Valenti went on a profane tirade Tuesday against the drugstore Rite Aid on Twitter, asking the company why they didn't let people "steal" diapers if they need them.
Valenti tweeted out a picture she took at her local New York City Rite Aid showing packages of Pampers and Huggies diapers locked behind a glass case. The pro-choice writer blamed the Supreme Court's Dobbs decision that overturned Roe v. Wade for the increasingly common anti-theft measure.
"This is the baby aisle at my local Rite Aid. We're a country that wants to force women into childbirth and then lock up diapers," she complained.
"It really is such a perfect encapsulation of American motherhood," Valenti added.
WALMART CEO DOUG MCMILLON SAYS THEFT IS ‘HIGHER THAN WHAT IT HAS HISTORICALLY BEEN'
Baby diapers are among the household and personal items frequently being shoplifted from stores. (iStock)
Valenti even called for retailers to allow theft because it would be more "practical."
"On a more practical level: How about you just let people steal the f---ing diapers if they need them? I would hope that ensuring babies don't sit in their own filth is a universal value," she tweeted.
In subsequent tweets, Valenti scoffed at the idea people were stealing diapers for any reason other than desperation, and suggested the company's measures to stop shoplifting were meant to hurt customers in the low-income area.
RAMPANT RETAIL THEFT MAKING INFLATION WORSE, THREATENS BLEEDING BUSINESSES, ECONOMISTS SAY
Signage is displayed outside a Rite Aid Corp. location in Toms River, New Jersey, on April 22, 2020. ( Angus Mordant/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
"Law enforcement (esp in NYC) would like us to believe that there are roving gangs of shoplifters who are interested in diapers for reasons beyond keeping babies clean. It's disgusting," she wrote.
Valenti added, "I'd be curious to know if diapers are locked up in other parts of NYC. I don't think it's a coincidence that my local Rite Aid happens to be the closest one to a public housing development."
Valenti's thread drew some pushback from other journalists.
Washington Post columnist Megan McArdle explained to Valenti why diapers and household items are commonly shoplifted.
"Diapers and Tide are some of the most shoplifted items because there's a steady resale market but the value is low enough to avoid a felony charge," she wrote in response.
Conservative writer Mark Hemingway at Real Clear Investigations gave a scathing retort to Valenti for connecting the issue to abortion.
"If you think moms in need should get free diapers, maybe tell your abortion activist friends to stop firebombing crisis pregnancy centers that give them out," he wrote.
RITE AID MAY PLACE ALL STORE ITEMS IN SHOWCASES DUE TO THEFT IN NEW YORK CITY
Rite Aid CEO Heyward Donigan and Chief Retail Officer Andre Persaud have blamed theft in their New York City locations for the company losing millions last quarter. Persaud said in October the company was thinking about "putting everything" behind locked displays as one way to combat the issue.
Several other drugstore and retail giants like CVS, Walgreens, Target, Walmart and Home Depot have also reported "growing" problems with theft.
Former Home Depot CEO Bob Nardelli called smash-and-grab robberies an "epidemic" that is "spreading faster than COVID."
Walmart CEO Doug McMillon also announced rising crime would force some stores to close and prices to rise.
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Fox News Digital reached out to Rite Aid for comment.
Fox Business' Aislinn Murphy and Kristen Altus contributed to this report.
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