Kansas City Star investigates CVS stores over condom lock-up
Video from NBC News in Kansas City.
Furthermore, the Kansas City Star investigation revealed that, contrary to CVS's claims, CVS does not always make smaller, three-pack boxes of condoms available without staff assistance, even in stores in which it locks up the larger quantity boxes.
UPDATE: The video above, from NBC News in Kansas City, discusses how some community organizations are taking action on this issue.
Read the full article that appeared on the front page of today's Kansas City Star here.
Read NBC Kansas City's coverage of the issue here.
Posted by Alex G. on July 13, 2009, 3:29 PM
11 Comments
Comments posted to the Cure CVS Blog are the sole property of the individual posting them, and do not necessarily reflect the viewpoints of the Cure CVS campaign, Change to Win, its affiliated unions, or its leadership.
If you are mature enough to have sex, you are old enough to ask for the condoms.
Grow up, assholes.
Big deal, do you know how many packs of condoms walk out the door unpaid for? Its called shrink reduction. People have no shame, they will steal ANYTHING! This is just 1 more thing this website blows completely out of proportion. If somebody came to your house and kept stealing your dvds, you'd eventually get smart and lock them up too. is CVS not aloud to have a bottom line? Are they not aloud to turn a profit?
I was thinking shrink reduction too, because I've worked retail. That said, it sounds like they are basing this policy solely on the racial makeup of the neighborhood and not on any actual theft rate. You can't tell me a black person is going to automatically steal condoms. You can only reduce shrinkage that is actually going on. So if CVS wants to defend this they better only lock stuff up after demonstrable theft has taken place--demonstrable meaning they've filed police reports and also reported the shrinkage to the main office. If these CVS stores can't point to a paper trail, they are WRONG.
How fucking naive are you?! Kids who aren't "mature enough" to be having sex, have sex all the freaking time! THEY are the ones at most risk, and THEY are the ones too embarrassed to ask. You need to get wise!
this is a bullsh*t article. yeah i called it. the point of locking something up is to reduce theft not to "offend black people" as this article points out. in fact this article offends me because i am sick and tired of some of these black people out there thinking that they are entitled to something. obviously if something is being stolen more in one store than another, then it will be locked up in the more theft prone store. if you want a locked condom just freaking ask. if that "offends" you, then dont shop at cvs. the point of (ALL) businesses in the U.S. is to make money. you make money by getting your stuff purchased, not stolen!
First of all- Jon- IT's CALLED A FREE CLINIC!!! You know, where they ask no questions and hand out condoms for free. Stores only lock up condoms when people steal enough of them to be considered a substantial loss. It has nothing to do with location. What if they weren't locked up, but they were behind the front registers? Technically they wouldn't be locked up anymore... But wait, it would still be EMBARRASSING. If you aren't mature enough (emotionally, not chronologically) to walk in a store and ask, then you shouldn't be having sex anyways. People like you infuriate me- placing blame on everyone else, but the parents that didn't teach their children to know better and a school system that doesn't reaffirm those values and the idiot child that decided to have sex and got pregnant or contracted an STD. My birth mother was one of those children, but at least she took responsibility for her actions, blamed no one but herself and partner and did the brave thing, giving me up for adoption.
Why not have the schools give out free condoms, and that way, children won't have to steal them from retail stores and as a result, stores won't have to lock them up.
Or better yet, why don't you pay for enough condoms for every child about to make a stupid mistake. Yeah... I didn't think so.
Next time think before you speak and lose the profanity. You sound ignorant
There- problem solved!!!
Point being- retail is about maximizing profits and minimizing loss of assets. In some communities it's baby formula, others it's electronics or printer ink, some places condoms. This decision is never based on race or community, but individual store statistics. What gets stolen the most is what is protected most. It's that simple.
Just some food for thought:
Cure CVS is run by Change to Win- a Union that unsucessfully tried to get CVS to remove the employee's right to vote for the stores to be unionized. Now they're pissed and like immature children, they are trying to get their revenge and ruin CVS by blowing things like this out of proportion and creating/spreading lies.
Petty and pathetic. If only they could respect people's right to choose.....
Alrighty, I work retail, and can say that it would be from a loss prevention point of view that one would lock up condoms. this action would be weighted on both sides, as there will clearly be a decrease in sales when there is a barrier to the product. the determining factor is from a BUSINESS standpoint, the decrease in theft outweighed the decrease in sales (the margin on such products comes into play alot here). It is that simple analysis that would be why CVS locks anything up for that matter. It does not matter what ethnic groups mostly shop a store, it comes down to the fact: a product is being stolen at a high rate, and action needs to be taken to minimize loss.
yall want them unlocked for? so that broke ass people can come and steal shit? stupid ass mf's yall let us handle our store...ugh people like yall i hate
Of course the stores in "communities of color" have a higher theft rate. Anyone who works retail knows that. It's a no-brainer. It's not about discrimination. It's about REALITY!!!!!
The only reason why the condoms are in a locked case is because 90% of the condoms that leave the store arent purchased. I am an assistant manager for CVS, and while at my store, the condoms are not locked up, we get a full case of condoms every single week but we never actually sell any. Condoms are constantly stolen, and the only reason why theyre in a locked case is for shrink reduction. The frangrances are locked up to...is that discrimination as well?