CVS store to close after thieves bombard outlet to leave shelves empty
A CVS store in Washington DC (not pictured) is to close after being routinely ransacked by thieving teenagers
Getty/TikTok
A CVS store in Washington DC is to close its doors after it was constantly ransacked by thieves leaving the shelves bare.
The pharmacy, which went viral after videos on TikTok circulated of the store being looted, is due to close on February 29.
The clips on social media show a group of shoplifting teens causing chaos in the store by stripping the CVS of all of its products.
Staff have claimed that more than 45 students would go into the store before school, after, and late at night.
Street vendors would sell the stolen products just steps away from the store (not pictured)
Reuters
The unruly teens would enter the store to steal crisps and drinks, before taking other items off the shelves.
Vendors are allegedly paying people to go into the store to steal things, which they can later sell on the street, according to Fox 5.
Just metres away from the store people are selling items commonly found in a CVS, such as toothbrushes, toiletries, and cleaning supplies.
Store employees say that the chaos had become so bad that even regular customers were joining in with the shoplifting.
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“All the customers, they try to take [something] for free,” a cashier told The Washington Times.
“They’re watching another customer and seeing that they didn’t pay, so they’ll tell us, ‘Why didn’t he pay? I’m not paying.’”
Other customers have been so put off by the looting that they have decided to avoid the pharmacy entirely.
Ilana Miller, a CVS customer, told WTTG-TV: “It makes me not want to shop there to be honest. I just go in there and get my prescription and then when I need other things, I go elsewhere because there’s nothing there to get.”
The teenagers' ransacking of the shelves (not pictured) led to other customers joining in
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A CVS spokesperson said to The Daily Mail: “Maintaining access to pharmacy services in the communities we serve is an important factor we consider when making store closure decisions.
“Other factors include local market dynamics, population shifts, a community’s store density, and ensuring there are other geographic access points to meet the needs of the community.”
The closure comes as crimes committed by juveniles have swept across Washington DC.
In the first nine months of 2023, there were 458 arrests of juveniles for robbery, a 10 per cent increase on the total number of arrests made in all of 2022, according to the capital’s mayor.