Lockup

I was in the Target store in Redmond, not too long ago, and encountered this:

The other side of the aisle was more of the same.

I will admit that it wouldn't have occurred to me that Redmond would have a shoplifting problem that made it worthwhile to lock up all of the laundry detergent. But, interestingly, it seems to be going around; there are more than a few stores scattered around the area that have these sorts of locked cases for various items; like the Fred Meyer where all of the Lego sets are in similar cabinets. But it's not a universal concern, apparently. The Target closest to where I live doesn't lock up the detergent, and the closest Fred Meyer doesn't keep the Lego kits under guard. It seems to be a more localized phenomenon than I would have thought.

What's most interesting about the thefts of laundry detergents, is that this has been a thing for more than a decade now; a quick Google search turned up articles dating back to 2010 on the topic. For all that it's heavy and bulky to carry around, it's needed by a lot of people, fairly expensive and immune to spoilage, which makes it useful as a store of value. As I understand it, the thieves will either sell the detergent for cash, or trade it directly for other items that they need; nothing more convenient has come along in the interim.