Accroding to an Instagram post from the account Washingtonian Problems, customers tap a buzzer placed on the bare shelves to summon store employees to retrieve the requested items from a back room.
The decision to implement this unconventional approach was prompted by incidents of homeless individuals taking products from the shelves without payment.
According to sources familiar with the situation as reported by the local outlet WTOP, the CVS in Washington DC focused on replacing shelves of toilet paper with framed photos of products due to homeless people began snatching the products off the shelves of the drugstore, located on H Street NE, without paying.
This development follows a recent episode in which a CVS store in DC was raided by as many as fifty teenage looters, who routinely attack the store and pillage its shelves.
After the shoplifting crisis is not controlled, CVS, along with rival drugstore chains Rite Aid and Walgreens, has made the decision to close over 1,500 stores collectively in the upcoming months.
Additionally, CVS has officially announced the closure of 900 stores across the United States. The National Retail Federation estimates that the shoplifting crime wave is causing an annual loss of $112 billion for the industry.
CVS has announced its intention to shutter 900 locations, constituting approximately 10 percent of its total stores, by the end of 2024. This strategic move is aimed at transitioning a significant portion of the business to an online platform, mitigating the impact of potential theft.
The recurrent incidents of looting at a CVS in Washington DC have resulted in alarming visuals depicting entire shelves being cleared by groups of children who reportedly target the store on a daily basis.
The routine looting carried out on a Washington DC CVS has seen shocking images of entire shelves being cleared by groups of children who reportedly target the store on a daily basis.
Fox 5 reporter Sierra Fox conveyed the extent of the situation, stating, 'When you walk into this CVS, you'd think the store is closing because there's barely anything on the shelves.'
'I did ask an employee what gets stolen the most, and they just laughed and said 'everything,'' Fox continued.
'A big group of kids, like 45 or more, walk in before school, after school, and late at night to steal chips and drinks.
'They even throw the food and beverages on the ground and stomp on them, leaving behind a big mess.'
According to Fox Business, in Washington DC, there has been a 68% surge in 2023 compared to the previous year.
Metropolitan Police Department data reveals that over 3,000 robberies have occurred so far in 2023, a substantial rise from the 1,791 incidents reported at the same point in 2022.
