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What do you think about this article? http://www.riverfronttimes.com/2008-08-20/news/out-of-control-shoplifting-at-the-st-louis-galleria-violent-attacks-in-the
by temphn 15y ago
What do you think about this article?
http://www.riverfronttimes.com/2008-08-20/news/out-of-control-shoplifting-at-the-st-louis-galleria-violent-attacks-in-the-delmar-loop-is-metrolink-a-vehicle-for-crime/ http://www.riverfronttimes.com/2008-08-20/news/out-of-contro...
Ask virtually any store manager at the Saint Louis
Galleria about shoplifting, and you'll invariably get two
responses: One, it's out of control; and two, it's gotten
exceedingly worse since August 2006, when MetroLink opened
a stop just 500 yards from the high-end shopping center.
In the first six months of this year, Richmond Heights
police made 345 arrests at the mall. That's nearly double
the number of arrests made in all of 2005, before
MetroLink opened its Shrewsbury line.
More alarming are the numbers of juveniles (kids under the
age of seventeen) arrested at the mall. This year police
are on pace to take 276 juveniles into custody for
shoplifting and other offenses — a sevenfold increase over
the 39 kids arrested at the Galleria in 2005.
"I know it's not politically correct, but how else do you
explain it?" comments a frustrated Galleria store manager
who, like many Galleria shopkeepers interviewed by
Riverfront Times, says her employer prohibits her from
officially speaking for the company.
"Anyone can see all these people crossing Brentwood
Boulevard from the MetroLink station," the manager
continues. "Most of them aren't here to shop. They're here
to hang out and cause trouble."
These statistics appear to support the supposition that the MetroLink connection did indeed increase crime at the malls. Do you have any data to support the alternative hypothesis that "rich white folks be crazy"?
- fleitz 15y agoThe real key is the bottom line for the shop, if theft has doubled and sales have doubled then the shop should be making more money. That isn't addressed, all the article says is that theft is up.
- jaredsohn 15y agoTo be pedantic, the important metrics are not percentage increases but rather the change in profits and the change in costs associated with theft.
- homosaur 15y agoThat's not pedantic, those are the same metrics retailers use when making decisions.
- jaredsohn 15y agoI said I was being pedantic because I was agreeing with the post's main point (what matters is the bottom line for the shop) but felt there could be a better way to describe what it means for it to be better for the bottom line.
- temphn 15y agoWell, be Bayesian about it. The incidents described in the full article include huge violent fistfights that led to curfews. Low income people are unlikely to spend lots of money. Lots of theft and violence is accompanied by lots of broken windows behavior that may not rise to the level of a criminal offense, but does scare away higher income people (example: screaming at the screen in a movie theater). And very few retail shops operate at 100% margins such that a doubling of revenue would exactly compensate for a doubling in theft. All in all, it is highly likely that events transpired as predicted by the project's critics. No doubt the proponents like homosaur did not sell the project as "violence will increase, thefts will double, and your previous patrons like Johnny Fields will leave, but...". They instead tried to insinuate that "rich white people be crazy" to think something like this might happen.
- waitwhat 15y agoAnd very few retail shops operate at 100% margins such that a doubling of revenue would exactly compensate for a doubling in theft. They don't need 100% margins to come out on top if they sell more units than are stolen. So if a shop was selling 10 units an hour and losing 1 unit an hour to theft, and footfall doubled (simplistically doubling sales and thefts), then the shop is now selling 20 units an hour and losing 2 to theft. At realistic margins, the shop is more profitable than it was.
- anamax 15y agoThe article says that arrests doubled, not that the costs associated with theft doubled. Note that "costs associated with thefts" is not just the cost of the goods stolen. It includes the costs of security. I also like how you think that they should be happy with your model, that how they feel about the situation is of no consequence. They have to live with this situation; they've got skin in the game. You just post.
- waitwhat 15y agoThe article says that arrests doubled, not that the costs associated with theft doubled. I wasn't discussing the article, but correcting errors in someone else's post. I also like how you think that they should be happy with your model, that how they feel about the situation is of no consequence. I never said what I think about the situation. I merely corrected someone else's financial misunderstanding. They have to live with this situation; they've got skin in the game. You just post. You're clearly angry at something. I strongly suggest you deal with this yourself, rather than continue to flail around and vent your frustration on strangers over the internet.
- homosaur 15y agoThat general hypothesis seems to be supported by the massive expansion of the Galleria in recent years, including the giant new Apple store, several new restaurants, Nordstroms, etc
- deleted 15y ago[deleted]
- homosaur 15y agoJust so you know, this article might have been accurate in 2006, but it's completely outdated. Kids don't get to hang out in the mall anymore and security at the Galleria is quite strict on this. There is a very staunch curfew policy there and I haven't heard of any incidents of violence like this since probably 2006 or 2007 and I would say that's the mall's fault in the first place for not being ready security-wise. They are now and there are zero problems other than the same shoplifting that goes on everywhere.
- homosaur 15y agohttp://voices.yahoo.com/st-louis-mall-sees-crime-drop-after-kids-ban-483203.html http://voices.yahoo.com/st-louis-mall-sees-crime-drop-after-...
- deleted 15y ago[deleted]