I’ve never seen security gates (at least anything more than the basic magnetic beeping ones), but locking shopping carts are a must. Hundreds or even thousand dollar equipment get stolen even a few times a year can seriously hurt a store’s viability, and I used to see stolen carts everywhere before locking wheels were invented. Half the time, it wasn’t even to be used personally, but because someone just wanted to use the cart to carry their groceries all the way home, then dumped the cart on the side of the road to rot afterwards, only to do it again the next week. This extreme was not common, but I did see it as a child.

And at my store, security guards have become mandatory, if only to protect against stealing beer. I think the guards catch a dozen people trying every week. When they were fired hired, I heard a story that most of the people they caught weren’t even homeless. One of them was a pensioner who was doing it only for fun. Some old woman who wanted the adrenaline rush because she was plenty wealthy, but bored.

On the flip side, they generally ignore regular shoplifting as long as the product isn’t expensive, and I’ve heard one guy who grabbed a shoplifter, only to take out the beer and leave the food in the guy’s bag after kicking him out of the store.

There are serious issues going around, but putting the blame purely on corporate greed is unfair, as they’re not the reason why there’s so many desperate people about these last few years.