Food deserts are not the result of theft. Food deserts exist outside of SF or other cities that are accused of being so soft on crime and all crime is legal. Food deserts are incredibly common in rural areas, especially as a result of their non-density. But hell, when I lived in Jacksonville( which is a consolidated city-county) I was 10+ miles from any grocery store. North side has developed a lot since I left and that is no longer true but in many rural areas the only places opening up are dollar generals which are taking advantage of the economics of whatever local grocery store is charging and offering an alternative to driving 30+ miles to the nearest Walmart. A sad state of affairs.
I live in Pacific County WA and it is an economically depressed area with an outsized cost of living. Groceries are absurdly expensive relative to the average income in the area and you could probably get the same groceries for half th price by driving to where the closest Walmart is( which is 30 or so miles from where I live.
This is a popular trope, but companies have already begun walking back their claims of rampant theft[0].
There are increased profits when building in more prosperous areas, so one might understand why companies choose to do so given limited resources. But lower profits in inner cities are not always about theft so much as a lack of cash.
The article doesn't support your claim. What it supports is the idea that for Walgreens as a whole, shrinkage isn't a make-or-break issue. It says nothing about whether Walgreens will choose to place or keep a store at a high-theft location or whether a mom-and-pop store can survive in the same.
The grocery business is famous for having very thin margins, so anything that cuts in will necessarily cause fewer options for the people of that area. Academic studies have generally shown that this is in fact not a trope but fact.
That isn't what the article says. It says Walgreens is walking back their anti-theft measures because it's costly and ineffective and the customers don't like them.
It also says that they sounded the alarm when shrink was at 3.5%, but they're back down to the more-normal 2.5% now. That's a decline that undercuts the very-popular trope that open theft is rampant or out of control in certain cites.
