A Philadelphia businessman is warning that without serious change, there could be “food deserts,” as stores are closing “left and right” due to retail theft, employees face threatening behavior, and insurance costs are skyrocketing. 

“The old days, somebody would come in and want to take a Twix bar if they’re hungry, take sandwiches, stuff like that,” a 7-Eleven franchise owner based at South Philadelphia, Vincent Emmanuel, tells the Sun. “That’s not what we’re dealing with here. People come with big shopping bags and empty the whole shelf and walk away, they take 40 cans of Red Bull.”

Philadelphia’s Democratic mayor, Cherelle Parker, has made public safety and order a central focus of her administration since taking office in January. In data provided to the Sun by the Philadelphia Police Department, homicides have declined significantly from a similar period last summer — but retail theft incidents are higher.

“We’re not talking about shoplifting,” Mr. Emmanuel says of the rising theft. “They’re shopping — to sell this somewhere else.”

While overall crime under the new mayor has “loosened up a little bit,” he says, “people can just walk into the stores and take whatever they want.” As thieves haul shopping bags full of goods out of stores, especially those like gas stations that are open 24/7, business owners are “just walking away from the business because they realize that between the insurance and then between the crime, it’s not a sustainable business.” 

Security measures in his 7-Eleven store include buzzers on doors, locked-up items, and moving products behind the counter instead of having them on public display, he says. 

“One after the other, constantly, you see 7-Elevens and gas stations going out of business,” he says. “In the city of Philadelphia, one by one, they’re closing — between the government regulations and between the challenges involved in operating the store, people are just calling it quits.” 

Last week, a Philadelphia Wawa gas station shut its doors after 45 years in business, saying that it could not “deliver the experience customers deserve.” It’s the eighth Wawa to close since 2020, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports, as several others have shuttered due to “continued safety and security challenges.” 

The new police commissioner and mayor are paying attention to crime and “things have eased up a little bit,” Mr. Emmanuel says, but shoplifting has persisted. 

“We have a district attorney that doesn’t want to lock anybody up if it’s under $500. That’s not making anything easier,” he says. Meanwhile, insurance rates are “ridiculously high,” he says, at “$1,000 a month.” 

“Nobody wants to insure the city of Philadelphia’s stores,” he says. “We are having problems getting insurance,” he adds, noting that he is shopping for insurance and it has been “very difficult.”

It’s going to take more than the mayor and police to change the city’s crime trends, Mr. Emmanuel says, calling on leadership from churches and other role models to address the stealing and its wider effects on the city.

“Unless somebody speaks about it, you’re going to have food deserts all over the place,” he says, adding that stores are “closing left and right” as people walk into them and take “whatever they want.”

“Let me work in peace. Let me make a living, I’ve got kids to feed, I’ve got a family to feed, I’ve got bills to pay,” he says, adding that “constantly getting threatened” is making it difficult to operate his business.