Beneath the Fluorescents: Safeway, Theft, and the Socio-Economic Divide

Ongoing activities at Safeway’s Potrero Center location highlight a broad set of social issues facing the store, San Francisco, and other urban areas. Shoppers rely on the market for routine milk and egg runs, and to purchase toothpaste, shampoo, and other sundries. Simultaneously, the store is subject to chronic grab-and-go theft. Outside, people periodically vie to collect signatures for ballot initiatives.  Uber and Lyft drivers gathered there last month to rally for fair wages.  

In response to escalating theft—up to 15 shoplifting incidents in a single afternoon, according to the San Francisco Standard—in January Safeway removed self-checkout lanes in an attempt to safeguard the store’s inventory. Self-checkout offered shoppers’ convenience and required fewer workers. Eliminating the lanes, combined with more items being locked up, forced employees to learn new procedures, including how to forestall revised attempts at theft. Customers experience longer wait times. During periods of heavy demand, it can take twenty or more minutes to check out, with only two or three cashiers available.  

During an April visit by the View there was palpable tension among workers. Weary eyes spoke to the stress of daily routines. One worker, speaking anonymously, said during their shift they took 8,000 to 14,000 steps a day, equivalent to four to seven miles, the length of San Francisco from the Bay Bridge to Ocean Beach. Attempts at stealing, such as an individual attempting to conceal a bulky item under their coat, continue to be routine occurrences. 

The prevalence of theft reflects underlying socio-economic struggles. One shopper, a mother in her forties, said she’d lived paycheck to paycheck, and was chronically tempted to steal necessities like diapers and applesauce. A pair of adolescent girls urgently discussed which cereal to buy, with the older one admonishing her younger sister that they couldn’t afford any of the colorful name-brand products. 

According to a 2023 study, “Inflation, Profits and Market Power: Towards a New Research and Policy Agenda” inflation, coupled with rising corporate profits, is deepening economic inequalities, particularly impacting individuals in middle to lower income brackets.  Meanwhile, despite widespread media attention to the issue, an analysis by the Council on Criminal Justice, a nonpartisan think tank, found that in most months San Francisco’s reported rate of shoplifting incidents per capita was significantly lower than a 24-city average. In June 2023, San Francisco reported 23 incidents per 100,000 residents; the average across the 24 cities that month was 39 per 100,000.