Stop smash mobs quickly—and carefully:

Large-scale organized retail crime hurts stores in several ways, Crain’s columnist Joe Cahill explains in his latest piece.

Illinois retailers lost nearly $4 billion to theft last year, according to the Illinois Retail Merchants Association. On top of that, frightened shoppers stay away, depressing sales. Stores spend more on security, driving up costs. Brazen thefts also rattle workers, exacerbating the labor shortage that has plagued retailing during the pandemic.

But there’s more than a successful holiday selling season at stake. Anything that hurts retailing hurts the entire Chicago region. Cahill lays out the stakes.

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