Texas Border Business
Chamber Executive Vice President and Chief Policy Officer.
Image source: uschamber.com
| Last Friday on Fox News, Chamber Executive Vice President and Chief Policy Officer Neil Bradley talked to Fox News about how shoplifting is forcing businesses to close. Why it matters: Retail stores operate on tight margins. Theft increases costs and directly hits businesses’ bottom lines. As a result, stores are closing in many cities, costing workers’ jobs and hurting communities that rely on those businesses. Key takeaways: “This is brazen lawlessness that is simply being ignored by our government,” Bradley explained. “Shoplifters are keeping track of the prices as they pull items off the shelf, knowing that if they walk out the door with less than $1,000 no one is going to do anything to them.” “The victims of the crimes aren’t just the businesses–some of them are small businesses and some are bigger,” said Bradley. “But the real victims are people losing their jobs because government officials won’t do theirs. The people suffering are the individuals who don’t have that grocery store or pharmacy because it’s closed.” “It’s a misnomer to call it shoplifting…. This is organized theft, and we need to treat it as such,” he added. “The state and local officials are the ones that are responsible, and if cities and police won’t step in then the state needs to.” Bottom line: Providing law and order is a primary role of government. Condoning theft hurts businesses, workers, and customers. |
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