Ex-Home Depot CEO reveals why more retail stores will be locking up their items in 2024

Throughout 2023, brick-and-mortar stores went to war with retail theft. According to the National Retail Federation (NRF), organized crime is a $100 billion problem, with cities like San Francisco, Houston, New York City and Seattle bearing the brunt of losses.

But heading into the new year, former Home Depot and Chrysler CEO Bob Nardelli warned big-box retail chains and small businesses are likely to see more items stolen off shelves in 2024, and as a result, continue locking products up.

"Unfortunately, I think it is still a problem," Nardelli said Tuesday on "The Claman Countdown." "When I was working with the Home Depot team, when you lock it up, you tended to lose sales because it became a deterrent: a deterrent for the people who wanted to rob you, but also for the shoppers who wanted to basically look [at] it, touch it, feel it, and be able to check out, versus getting an associate, unlocking the crib and then bringing it to the register."

The House Homeland Security Committee’s Subcommittee on Counterterrorism, Law Enforcement and Intelligence held a hearing titled "From Festive Cheer to Retail Fear: Addressing Organized Retail Crime" in early December. Current Home Depot execs and representatives from the NRF testified, detailing "an unprecedented spike in retail crime."

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The NRF’s 2023 National Retail Security Survey also reported that retail shrink accounted for $112.1 billion in industry losses, a 1.6% annual increase.

"We hear about the big chains and their problems. Oftentimes, we forget that the retail industry is an industry that is made up 98% of small businesses. That is the backbone of our economy," NRF executive director of research Mark Mathews previously told Fox News Digital in December, "and sometimes those get forgotten, and they're suffering as well."

Nardelli argued Tuesday that many stores' no-chase or confrontation policies are contributing to a "lawless society." 

"I was blessed at Home Depot, we got shrink under control, we installed cameras in every store. We had a dark room where our security team was monitoring high-shrink stores. But back then, it was not legal to steal $1,000 to get a paint sprayer or a nail gun or something and just walk out with it," he said. 

"Until we get this lawless society under control, where we can arrest and prosecute, which we did when I was there in 2000 to 2006, we're still going to see, unfortunately, having to secure more of the merchandise," he continued, "which stops the theft to a certain degree, but also prohibits shopping [and] quality shoppers."

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Mathews previously noted that the NRF is actively working with Congress to pursue legislation that effectively combats retail theft, and that locking up items is "far from ideal" for the industry’s success.

"[Not] only does that make it less convenient for the consumer, but there's a lot of cost involved with that as well. It's not just the cost of the goods you're losing to the crime, it's the cost of hiring extra security guards, putting into place deterrent methods to stop people from stealing," Mathews said. "It's a major concern for us."

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Fox News’ Elizabeth Elkind contributed to this report.