The Impact Of Shoplifting

Walmart announced recently that it will be closing its last two stores within the city limits of Portland, Oregon, because the performance of the two stores wasn’t meeting the company’s financial expectations. The decision follows a recent statement by Walmart’s CEO that increasing retail theft was affecting the performance of its stores. The two store closures will affect 600 employees, who will be given the opportunity to transfer to suburban Walmarts in the surrounding area, as well as the people who live nearby and use the store regularly.

Portland evidently has a significant shoplifting problem, and it is making businesses make a difficult choice. Walmart’s CEO noted that the spike in shoplifting means that prices “will be higher and/or stores will close.”  Other businesses, including Nike and Cracker Barrel, have closed Portland locations. Smaller businesses have been hurt, too. The owner of an upscale consignment shop at a Portland-area mall had to close that location because it was hit by shoplifters 19 times in the course of a year. The shoplifters stole $56,000 in merchandise, which was more than the business could absorb. Portland news media reports that the shoplifters often are brazen, stealing even in the view of security cameras, and apparently have little fear of being arrested or prosecuted.

The consignment store’s owner voiced her frustration with the situation in this way: “The amount of work that goes into running a small business, down to the research, tags and training to do this the right way and then someone just steals a day’s worth of all your work, it’s like — ‘What’s the point?'”

Portland’s sad story illustrates the domino effect that occurs when criminals are not caught and punished. If retailers respond to shoplifting losses by raising their prices to cover the cost of the thefts, the impact is borne by shoppers who are actually paying for their goods, as opposed to pilfering them. If stores are closed, jobs are lost, employees are dislocated, storefronts go empty, and the commercial real estate market is hurt. And, because the thieves don’t pay for their crimes, others are incentivized to steal, and entrepreneurs who otherwise might be opening new businesses are discouraged from doing so.

It’s not a positive cycle.

Direct Versus Indirect (Cont.)

My experiment in driving down to Portland to catch a direct flight to Columbus yesterday worked like a charm. The weather was clear, I enjoyed a fine, mask-free drive through the pretty Maine countryside with a soundtrack provided by the Maine classical music network of stations, I arrived at the Portland airport in plenty of time, and my direct flight on United left on time and got in early. Portland has a very nice, newer airport, with high ceilings and lots of room and charging stations for electronic devices, and the long-term parking lot is literally right next to the terminal building. It’s ridiculously convenient. The only mishap occurred when I missed an exit and had to loop around, but I had given myself plenty of time so it was no big deal.

I think direct flights from Portland are definitely a viable option, although I recognize that yesterday’s experiment involved practically perfect conditions— no rain, no traffic-snarling accidents, and no slow-moving trucks to hold me up on the two-lane roads that make up most of the drive. In the future those conditions obviously could change and make the trip less effortless. But boy, it sure was nice to reduce the hours of annoying and uncomfortable mask time, and all told my travel day was a bit less than taking a one-stop trip from Bangor.

The big issue is that the direct flights from Portland are not an everyday occurrence. I therefore was encouraged to see that the flight, on a regional jet, was totally full. Maybe if United sees the demand, it will add some additional flights. So let me encourage my central Ohio friends: fly to Portland and visit Maine! I’d be much obliged.

Hanging In Portland

On our way back from Boston we made a stop in Portland, Maine to pick up some supplies. Portland has a pretty cool and pedestrian-friendly downtown filled with interesting buildings, and businesses. Our destination was a quirky art supply shop across from the Maine College of Art.

Tall Ship On The Bay

I’ll always be fascinated by sailboats, and their tall majesty on the water.  This beautiful craft passed our mailboat as we headed into the harbor in Portland.

On The Mailboat Run

Kish is a savvy traveler.  She does her homework, and finds bargains and options that other people just don’t know about.  I happily enjoy the fruits of her labors.

We wanted to get out on the water in Portland, and she suggested the mailboat run on the Casco Bay Lines.  You could take a private cruise, I suppose, but the mailboat run is a lot more interesting and probably cheaper, besides.

For only $13.50, you board an actual mailboat that takes mail and other supplies out to islands in the Casco Bay.  You sit up front with the locals while the crew works their tails off to the aft, offloading mail and pallets of supplies.  For more than two hours you steam along, stopping at Great Diamond Island, Long Island, Cliff Island, and finally Great Chebeague Island before the boat turns and heads back to Portland.

If you’re lucky enough to have good weather and sit next to a friendly native of Great Chebeague Island you can enjoy a lovely cruise and pick up some of the local lore, too — like how the Bay was outfitted during World War II, why the clouds tend to stay above the land while the sky above the sea is blue, how lobstermen guard their trapping territory, and why locals despise the ugly abandoned power plant smokestack that mars the view back toward the mainland — but also use the smokestack as a marker when they’re fishing.

Casco Bay is a lovely area, and the homes on the islands are stunning.  Kish and I came back with sunburns and a slightly deeper understanding of what it must be like to live on an island in the sea.

Fish-Eyed

Seriously, can’t you just smell this place from this photo of goggle-eyed fish, ready to be consumed by happy fish lovers?  Water on the floor, people walking around with heavy aprons and boots that come up to the knee, and the sharp, clean scent of fish — ridiculously fresh fish — everywhere you care to take a sniff.

And this is just the retail side of the Portland fish market.  Imagine what the wholesale side looks and smells like!

Real Seaside

We’re now in Portland, Maine, enduring some rainy weather but enjoying the “old port” section of town.

Portland has a well-preserved dockside area, where many old buildings are still standing.  Some of the huge brick warehouses have  been refurbished and house upscale shops, taverns, and ice cream emporiums, but some buildings, like the wooden fish market, appear to be pretty much like they have been for time immemorial.  Walking past the ramshackle structure, you can almost feel and smell the tons of haddock, cod, smelt, and other sea delicacies that have passed through its doors and the generations of salt-crusted fishermen who have hauled them in.

The refurbished buildings are pretty, but I prefer the unadorned — and presumably more authentic — fish market.

Last Night’s Sunset

Last night, the clouds rolled in and the rains came to Peaks Island.  But a sliver of sky cleared on the horizon over Portland, allowing people at the ferry landing to enjoy a spectacular sunset that was worth a few raindrops to experience.

Made It, Worth It

After a mad travel day that featured a canceled flight, rerouting to Boston, a rental car drive through the strip mall area around Logan Airport and then up the east coast to Portland, Maine, and a mad dash to try to catch the Casco Bay Lines ferry to Peaks Island, I finally met up with Russell for the ferry ride and we were greeted by Kish at the Peaks Island dock.

Sometimes travel days can suck; it’s just the world we live in.  But when your ultimate destination is a good one, with family members and a lobster dinner waiting and sunsets like this to awe you at the end of the day’s journey, it’s worth it.