While locking up merchandise can reduce theft, it also deters paying customers, according to Walgreens.

Over the years the pharmacy chain used strategy to combat shoplifting. Walgreens CEO Tim Wentworth said the company’s decision to lock up products after reporting a 52% increase in stolen inventory has backfired, according to multiple reports.

“When you lock things up, for example, you don’t sell as many of them. We’ve kind of proven that pretty conclusively,” the pharmacy chain’s CEO Tim Wentworth said in the company’s first-quarter earnings call on Jan. 10.

Quartz reports Wentworth said he is working with Walgreen’s head of asset protection to develop “creative” solutions to combat shoplifting.

“I don’t have anything magnificent to share with you today. It is a hand-to-hand combat battle still, unfortunately.”

Walgreens has been struggling financially. In a 2024 interview with The Wall Street Journal, Wentworth said the company planned to close a “substantial” number of underperforming locations in an effort to reduce the pharmacy giant’s footprint.

In October, Walgreens announced it would close 1,200 stores across the country after reporting a loss of $8.6 billion the previous fiscal year.

According to Wentworth, the first wave of closures is set to come this year, starting with 500 underperforming stores.

“In fiscal 2025, we are focusing on stabilizing the retail pharmacy by optimizing our footprint, controlling operating costs, improving cash flow, and continuing to address reimbursement models to support dispensing margins and preserve patient access for the future,” Wentworth said in a statement at the time.