Locked-up merchandise is turning off shoppers at CVS, Walgreens, and other big drugstores

• Major drugstore chains have locked up a lot of merchandise to prevent shoplifting.
• But the anti-theft strategy is pushing some customers to wonder: Why even shop here?
• Locking up so many items undermines one of drugstores' main reasons for existing: convenience.

Drugstores like CVS, Walgreens, and Rite Aid have long been the spots where you can pick up essentials like a can of soup or some Tylenol in addition to your prescriptions.

The three brands combined operate roughly 20,000 locations across the US in big cities and small towns alike, making them one of the most convenient stores to grab what you need and get on with your day.

But each year it seems that more items are locked away in order to prevent theft, and that's turning away customers who say the measures undermine the shopping experience.

On TikTok, videos show frustrated customers trying to make everyday purchases — but running into locked shelves and cases.

One video even appears to show a CVS where bottles of Gatorade and water in coolers that are locked up and have "customer service" push buttons next to the handles.

Another appears to show a Rite Aid store with an even wider selection of locked-up merchandise, including tortilla chips and microwavable ramen. Gift cards and greeting cards are some of the only products that customers can pick off the shelf themselves.

"I feel like, if it's that bad, y'all might as well close down," the poster says in the video.

Drugstores are supposed to be easy to shop

Convenience is the essence of drugstore retail, Global Data analyst Neil Saunders told Business Insider.

"If you put roadblocks in there with locking things up and not having the staff to unlock cabinets, you've destroyed your reason for existence," he said.

Saunders was recently surprised to see peanuts under antitheft protection at a CVS location.

"If it was macadamia nuts, I might accept it," he joked.

At one Duane Reade location in Brooklyn, New York, Business Insider saw an older adult ask why the toothpaste was locked up as an associate was unlocking aspirin for her. Duane Reade is owned by Walgreens.

Saunders also said it's a natural response for retailers to try to protect their inventory from shoplifters, but preventing or delaying honest shoppers doesn't exactly help a store's financial performance either.

Spokespersons for Walgreens and CVS each told BI that anti-theft technologies were installed in response to store-level shoplifting data and intended to ensure that products were in stock for customers.

"Locking a product is a measure of last resort," the CVS spokesperson said. Rite Aid did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Interestingly, the struggles in the so-called front-of-store business get short shrift from management and investors. The subject received no mention during CVS' earnings call Q&A this week, where the discussion was more focused on the complexities of the prescription and health care delivery sides of the company.

Meanwhile, Walgreens execs said the company is still struggling with missing inventory and that one in four of the company's stores aren't profitable.

The drugstores have also announced thousands of store closures over the last year, including many related to Rite Aid's bankruptcy and Walgreens' attempt to make its store network more efficient.

Friction and frustration for gig workers on a tight schedule

Locked-up merchandise is a problem for people filling orders for services like DoorDash and Instacart, too. The pressure is particularly intense for gig delivery workers since they have to shop and deliver orders to customers by a set time.

One Instacart shopper in Nevada told BI that she finds two or three locked-up items at a time before pressing a button to call an employee when she shops at a CVS or Walgreens store. That way, she said, she can complete the order faster and save the employee time, too.

Some recent orders that the shopper has filled required retrieving as many as seven items under lock-and-key, she said. She said she even avoids taking orders that involve shopping at one particular Walgreens store due to all the locked-up goods there.

"It's unfortunate, and I understand the store's position, but it does create a challenge for shoppers," she said.

Shoplifting is a problem, but this solution presents new problems

The drugstore chains have been — and still are — some of the most vocal about retail theft.

In 2022, a Rite Aid executive said theft was leading to such high losses for the chain that it was considering "literally putting everything" under lock and key at its stores. But it's hard to get good information on how big a problem retail theft actually is.

Companies have since softened their stance a bit, but Walgreens CEO Tim Wentworth says the problem still isn't solved and won't be without the support of local politicians and law enforcement.

In the meantime, GlobalData's Saunders says the pharmacy retailers are rapidly losing out to competitors like Walmart, Target, Amazon, and local grocers, where prescriptions can still be filled and there are often fewer locks, more staff, plus other perks like same-day delivery.

"People didn't stop buying a lot of these things, they just stopped buying them at drugstores," he said. "It only takes one or two trips with things being locked away for customers to say, 'Right, I'm finding an alternative.'"

Do you work at CVS, Walgreens, Rite Aid, or another drugstore chain and have a story idea to share? Reach out to these reporters at [email protected] and [email protected]