U.S. retailers eliminated close to 76,000 jobs in the first five months of the year, an increase of 274% from the same period in 2024, according to a report released Thursday by Challenger, Gray & Christmas.
A total of 11,483 retail jobs were cut in May, compared to 7,235 in April. Job cuts across all U.S. employers in May – 93,816 – were down 12% from April but still 47% higher than May of 2024.
So far this year, retail job losses rank second behind government job cuts, most of which were attributed to eliminations by the Department of Government Efficiency. Technology ranked just behind retail with almost 75,000 job losses since the beginning of the year, per the report.
The operation involved law enforcement from 28 states and cooperation from numerous retailers, including Target and Walgreens
The Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office recently spearheaded a nationwide retail theft sting, netting hundreds of arrests in 28 states.
According to State’s Attorney Eileen O’Neill Burke’s office, the National Organized Retail Crime (ORC) Blitz, led by her office, yielded more than 500 total arrests, involving more than 100 law enforcement agencies across the country.
What’s more, more than $130,000 in stolen goods were recovered, along with stolen vehicles, narcotics and weapons in the late May operation.
“Retail crime has become increasingly violent and sophisticated, and if left unchecked, will continue to wreak devastating economic consequences in our communities. The recent nationwide ORC Blitz sends a strong message: we take these crimes seriously and are putting up a united front. Organized retail crime is a public safety issue, it’s a quality-of-life-issue, and it’s an economic issue,” Burke said in a statement.
Starbucks plans to roll out a generative artificial intelligence assistant created with Microsoft Azure’s OpenAI platform to 35 locations this month as part of its strategy to simplify baristas’ jobs and speed up service in its cafes.
The coffee chain showed off the new technology to more than 14,000 North American store managers at its Leadership Experience in Las Vegas on Tuesday. A broad launch of the “Green Dot Assist” platform across the U.S. and Canada is slated for the company’s fiscal 2026, which starts in the fall.
The drugstore retail sector has struggled since the Covid-19 pandemic, with fierce competition among brick-and-mortar retailers, as well as online pharmaceutical providers, for customers' prescription dollars.
Major pharmacy chains including CVS, Walgreens, and Rite Aid compete directly with larger big-box pharmaceutical providers such as Walmart, Target, and Costco, as well as major online players like Amazon and Mark Cuban's CostPlus Drug Company, which offers discount prescriptions.
Jackson County Prosecutor Melesa Johnson announced Monday that a man from Kansas City has been charged with murder in relation to a deadly shooting that happened in March.
Demarion Nichols was charged with one count of second-degree murder and one count of armed criminal action. If convicted, he could spend up to 30 years in prison.
According to court records, officers with the Kansas City Police Department responded to the area of St. John and Monroe Avenues on March 26 and found a man suffering from multiple gunshot wounds.
Eight shoplifting suspects were arrested in a Pentagon City operation as new police data shows Arlington retail crime is on the rise.
In a May 30 retail theft detail, the Arlington County Police Department arrested seven people on petit larceny charges and one person on a grand larceny charge. The arrests resulted in the recovery of more than $6,000 in stolen merchandise, police said in a press release.
“The detail was a collaborative effort between law enforcement and the business community to identify and apprehend individuals suspected of theft,” ACPD said.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang is growing more bullish about quantum computing — and he expects they’ll start solving real-world problems in the coming years.
“Quantum computing is reaching an inflection point,” Jensen declared during his keynote speech at Nvidia’s GTC Paris developer conference Wednesday.
Quantum computers are machines that use the laws of quantum mechanics to solve problems too complex for classical computers, which store information in bits (ones and zeroes).
The project studies the potential of transaction analytics in spotting financial crime within real-time retail payment systems.
The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) Innovation Hub, in collaboration with the Bank of England, has carried out a study known as Project Hertha, testing AI techniques to identify fraud within payment system data.
It studies the potential of transaction analytics in detecting financial crime within real-time retail payment systems.
The project leverages AI to pinpoint “complex” criminal networks that operate across multiple financial institutions.
Safe and Open: Rethinking Retail Loss Prevention Without Compromising the Experience
Retail shrink is rising—and so is shopper frustration. Retailers are under pressure to secure their stores without turning them into high-friction spaces. In our newest article, we discuss how Purchek® technology andFaceFirstwork together to prevent theft without blocking access to products or harming the customer experience.
From cart-based theft prevention to real-time offender alerts, these smart, discreet technologies offer proactive protection while supporting safer, more efficient operations.
Explore how you can move beyond locked cases and toward a future that’s both secure and shopper-friendly.
📍 Join us at NRF PROTECT 2025to explore how we’re reshaping retail safety. 🗓️ June 23–25 | Booth 622 (Gatekeeper Systems) & Booth 308 (FaceFirst)
Wood Co. task force set to investigate retail crime rings makes first arrest hours after creation
Ohio (WTVG) - A local law enforcement task force was created to crack down on retail theft in Wood County. Just hours after the group became official, it made its first arrest.
Retail theft is a problem not only in Northwest Ohio but across the state.
According to Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost, Ohio businesses lose $2-3 billion every year because of retail theft.
The crime impacts everyone, not just the business owners. The Ohio Attorney General’s office said shoppers may see stores’ prices increase to offset their losses.
Retailers have always faced challenges with returns. However, 2024 saw a notable surge in return and claim fraud, to the tune of $103 billion in losses, according to a consumer returns report by Appriss Retail and Deloitte.
More findings include:
Fraudulent returns accounted for roughly 15.14% of the projected $685 billion in returns this year, adding significant pressure to an industry with already slim profit margins.
Total returns comprised 13.21% of overall retail sales, reaching $5.19 trillion, according to the report.
President Trump Signs Cybersecurity Executive Order
On June 6, 2025, President Donald Trump issued a new Executive Order (EO), “Sustaining Select Efforts to Strengthen the Nation’s Cybersecurity and Amending Executive Order 13694 and Executive Order 14144,” which both amends and supersedes portions of President Biden’s January 2025 EO 14144 (which we discussed in a January Legal Update) and revises President Obama’s 2015 EO 13694.
The new directive preserves many of the strategic aims of the previous Administration, such as the focus on secure software development, federal network visibility, and combating malicious cyber-enabled activities.
Unionized Kroger employees in King County, surrounding areas vote to strike
A union representing thousands of grocery store workers around King County has voted to strike.
The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW 3000) represents workers at Kroger-owned stores and Albertsons-owned stores.
The union is asking the grocery chains for better wages, more staffing and improved healthcare.
A spokesperson for UFCW 3000 tells My Bellingham Now that workers at grocery stores in Whatcom and Skagit counties are part of the same union, but those workers have a separate contract and aren’t likely to be impacted if there is a strike.
Most US shoppers will ditch brands over price hikes: Report
A majority of shoppers in the United States will abandon brands if retail prices rise, with nearly three in four consumers saying they would switch to cheaper generics, as per a recent report. This reaction comes despite 68 per cent of brand and retail executives anticipating customer backlash and 73 per cent of consumers expressing frustration over price increases.
Still, 83 per cent of executives plan to raise prices. Interestingly, nearly 80 per cent of consumers say they would feel more loyal to brands that absorb tariff-related costs instead, according to a report titled ‘Tariffs & Trust: Why Retailers Risk Loyalty with Price Hikes Study’ from First Insight.
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