Store removes toilet paper from shelves after spike in thefts by homeless

A CVS store in Washington D.C. has made the decision not to display toilet paper on its shelves after a rise in thefts.

Customers now have to request assistance from an employee to retrieve the product from the store’s backroom. The decision at the store on H Street NE in the nation’s capital was made following reports of homeless people pilfering toilet paper, according to sources cited by WTOP news.

Pictures obtained by Fox Business appear to show paper towels and toilet paper conspicuously absent from the store’s shelves. They appear to have been replaced with picture frames of the products in stock beside signs instructing customers wanting to buy the product to press a customer-service button.

According to a report by Fox, year-to-date data indicates a 68 percent increase in reports of robbery in 2023 compared to the same period in 2022. Washington D.C. Metropolitan Police Department has reported that over 3,000 robberies have occurred in 2023, compared to 1,791 at this point in 2022. Statistics from 2021 show there were 2,046 reported robberies by this stage of the year.

Ben Atanga, proprietor of a wellness studio in Maryland, told Fox Business that this issue extends beyond H Street and D.C., characterizing it as a nationwide concern.

He said: “First, I want to say this: this is not just an H street or a D.C. problem—this is something that’s going on all over the country, right? The economy is going up, cost of living is going up … If people are stealing … items, necessities, you know, I think maybe we should take a look at that. Maybe those are things that we don’t increase or maybe as a community we provide that … ‘Hey look, you can come pick up toiletries and stuff like that, so that you can take care of yourself.’ H Street has always had a huge homeless population.”

Theft has been on the rise in some U.S. states, particularly in major cities. A recent report by the National Retail Federation, a trade group representing US retailers, said that chains lost $112 billion in 2022 due to organized theft rings operating in San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York and Houston last year. In the previous year, $93.9 billion was lost thanks to pilfering from shops.

Retail giant Target closed several inner city stores earlier this year following an uptick in thefts. In a statement released in September, the retailer said it made the decision to close the shops due to concerns over safety for staff and customers.

Newsweek has contacted CVS via email for comment.