Target claims that it closed nine of its stores in the United States because of theft and organized retail crimes. However, the American retailer's reason for its store closures is now being questioned.
This is because a new investigation revealed that locations with open Target stores experience more crimes compared to areas where Target branches were closed.
A sign is seen on the exterior of a Target store on July 18, 2006, in Chicago, Illinois. Heightened concerns that energy prices are slowing consumer spending helped to drag shares of Target down today for their biggest one-day percentage slide in eight months.
Target has over 2,000 stores across the U.S. Although the stores that the e-commerce giant closed are less than 1% of its overall establishments, Americans in the affected locations still complained.
If you are living in one of the states where Target stores are closed, here's what you need to know about the latest investigation on its store closures.
Target Questioned for Blaming Crimes for Store Closures
According to NBC News' latest report, Target announced on Sept. 6 that it will close nine of its stores in four U.S. states for good because of crimes, such as theft.
The American retailer claimed that the branches it'll close are too dangerous to operate because of criminals in the areas. Experts said that Target's store closures are a clear sign that crimes are preventing prominent retailers from staying profitable and operating safely.
Target's store closures challenged doubters who said that retailers are just exaggerating crimes so they can have an excuse to have poor financial performance.
Now, a new investigation revealed that this could really be the case since locations that have open Target stores have more crimes than those with closed branches.
Because of this, Target's reason is being questioned by skeptics. Experts said that the investigation's latest findings show that the American retailer could just be closing its stores as part of its legislative agenda, which is to seek a major crackdown against organized retail crimes.
Aside from this, critics also said that since crimes are lower in areas with closed Target stores, the e-commerce giant could really be exaggerating crimes to obscure poor financial performance.
Stats Don't Match Target's Reason
A Target customer looks at a display of board games while shopping at a Target store on December 15, 2022, in San Francisco, California. According to a report by the U.S. Commerce Department, retail sales fell 0.6% in November as consumers pulled back on spending due to rising prices brought on by inflation.
Target officially closed its nine stores on Oct. 21. These branches were located in Seattle, New York City, the San Francisco-Oakland area, and Oregon.
However, Business Insider reported that publicly available crime stats don't match what the retailer claims. For example, crimes in East Harlem of NYC—one of the locations where Target closed its stores—have fewer crimes than nearby areas.
The New York City Police Department's 25th Precinct revealed that Harlem only had over 200 incidents of "larceny from a store" in the first six months of 2023.
Comparing this to the crimes happening in 795 Columbus Ave. and 150 East 86th St., which are the closest Target locations to Harlem, have higher incident counts.
As of writing, Target hasn't provided an explanation for why it closed its stores despite stats and investigations showing that affected locations have fewer crimes than those with open Target stores.
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