Gristedes CEO steps up security at stores amid wave of shoplifting incidents

A major New York City grocery chain is buckling down on security measures following a string of brazen retail thefts targeting supermarkets in the Big Apple.

John Catsimatidis, the CEO of Gristedes, told FOX Business that the company plans to place retired police officers outside its stores and even offer rewards to customers who provide information on shoplifters. 

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"We put our foot down. We're not going to allow crime to take us over," Catsimatidis said, pointing to a number of recent store closures in the city. 

Catsimatidis said Gristedes won't be one of them.

"We're not closing our stores," he added. "We're going to do to whatever we have to do to make sure our consumers and to make sure our employees are safe." 

To help, Catsimatidis says the retired officers will be placed at every location, but they won't be standing in plain sight. 

"They're going to be outside the store, they're going to do what they have to do," he said. 

Catsimatidis added that the company will use its security cameras to take pictures of any thieves. 

ALLEGED SHOPLIFTER SEEN CARRYING STACK OF STEAKS OUT OF NYC TRADER JOE’S: REPORT

In the week ending Feb. 6, New York City saw a 58.5.% increase in petit larceny incidents, according to NYPD citywide crime statistics. 

As recently as Tuesday, a man was seen stuffing cans of soda into his pants at a Trader Joe's in Union Square before casually leaving the store, according to footage captured by the New York Post. 

Just one day before that, another man left the same store with a stack of 10 packages of steaks. Employees told the outlet that they were told not to stop the alleged thief. The incident is being handled by the police. 

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Representatives for Trader Joe's did not respond to FOX Business' request for comment.