Dick's Sporting Goods posted weak second-quarter numbers on Tuesday—and it placed a large share of the blame on shoplifters. The retailer missed Wall Street forecasts as it reported a 23% plunge in profits for the quarter, reports CNBC, and shares in the company were down nearly 25% at midday as a result. The company blamed "shrink," an industry term that encompasses theft as well as goods gone missing for internal reasons, such as accounting errors, per CNN. "Our profitability was short of our expectations due in large part to the impact of elevated inventory shrink, an increasingly serious issue impacting many retailers," said CEO Lauren Hobart said in a statement.
Hobart, however, made clear she was primarily blaming "organized retail crime and theft in general" when referring to shrink. The Wall Street Journal reports that Macy's also reported weaker-than-expected earnings, and its chief executive similarly cited theft as a contributing factor. Jeff Gennette said the retailer is taking steps to curb the problem, including removing what the Journal calls "high-theft" items from store entrances. Earlier this year, Target warned that it expected to lose half a billion dollars to theft, notes CNN. (Across the country, malls and stores have been victimized by youths taking part in smash-and-grab, or "flash rob," incidents.)
,
uBlock 
,
and
Ghostery 
)
