Walgreens CEO Admits Locking Items Up Was Bad For Business

Walgreens made some significant changes to their their policies over the last few years, and the company is now admitting some of those choices didn’t garner the best results. After the pharmacy store chain opted to lock up a significant amount of products on shelves, CEO Tim Wentworth is acknowledging this led to a drastic drop in sales.

“When you lock things up, for example, you don’t sell as many of them. We’ve kind of proven that pretty conclusively,” Wentworth told investors during a recent earnings call. “I don’t have anything magnificent to share with you today. It is a hand-to-hand combat battle still, unfortunately.”

Walgreens struggled financially last year, reporting an operating loss of $245 million for the quarter, compared to $39 million in the same quarter the previous year, according to Quartz. The company’s decision to lock up products was a response to a 52% increase in stolen inventory, but the method ultimately backfired.

The CEO stated the company’s head of asset protection is pivoting and working to come up with “creative” solutions to combat shoplifting.

Many consumers are using the news as an opportunity to air out their grievances about their Walgreens shopping experiences. “No sh*t. Last week I went to Walgreens to pick up a prescription and figured I’d buy some body wash too but all of it was locked up,” one X user recalled. “Had of push the assistance button a couple of times and it might not seem like much but waiting a whole minute and some change for SOAP is stupid.”

Another person vividly detailed a common scenario, writing, “I went to CVS this weekend and every two seconds the loudspeaker blares: BEEP! customer service needed at deodorant! BEEP! customer assistance needed at cosmetics! BEEP! customer assistance needed at body wash! What a miserable shopping experience.”

Check out some more reactions below, with many people echoing a similar sentiment: “Well, duh.”