This is the final part of a three-part series on organized retail crime. The stories examine the claims retailers make about how theft is impacting their business and the actions companies and policymakers are taking in response to the issue. Read the first story here and the second here.Pedestrians walk past a vacant storefront along the Magnificent Mile shopping district on October 21, 2021 in Chicago, Illinois. Retailers are moving out of the luxury shopping district which has been hit hard by a drop in traffic from the pandemic and a rash of robberies and retail thefts.Scott Olson | Getty ImagesWhen Walmart’s CEO, Doug McMillon, was asked what will happen if shoplifters aren’t aggressively prosecuted, he warned it would have a massive impact on consumers.”If that’s not corrected over time, prices will be higher, and/or stores will close,” the top executive of the country’s largest retailer said during a December interview with CNBC. The retail industry is the nation’s largest private sector employer, and it contributes $3.9 trillion to the country’s annual gross domestic product, according to the National Retail Fed …
