Brick and mortar stores that are persevering through this retail hellscape are doing the Lord’s work. I foresee a future in which it’s all locked away in a distant warehouse, or require membership clearance for in-person shopping.

Look forward to the author's next rant when they complain about food deserts in certain parts of the city because stores have decided the cost of doing business there is not feasible.

Of course the POC who make minimum wage and work at my local gorcery doing security are exactly the same people as ICE officers (look how perceptive you are). Your privelege reeks IA, you're way off base with this.

Are this author talking about that horrible QFC at Broadway and Pike? They should just tear that thing down and call it good.

@4: Curious - what's horrible about that QFC?

It's cute that the author thinks people just walk out with a $5 bag of trail mix.

Phoebe dear, it was always a stupid layout, and even when it was brand new, it was grim inside, with low ceilings and fluorescent lighting.

I haven't been in it for years, but from the street, it looks like a prison. And customers, unless they use the graffiti-filled elevator, must enter and exit through the one entrance that is still open, which is always full of Our Unhoused Neighbors.

If I were Mr. QFC and wanted to rehab the store, I'd abandon that corner entrance, get rid of the stairs to the upper level, take over all the empty retail along Pike Street, and daylight the store. I'd also have a dedicated store entrance with turnstyles, and a dedicated exit with someone checking receipts like they do at Costco.

And I'd prohibit all but legitimate service animals (after witnessing one of Our Unhoused Neighbors threaten a security guard at the Rainier Avenue Bartell's with a vicious dog that should have been tased and put down)

I agree with most of the comments. The security I have seen has been respectful and friendly. Well, I'm friendly to them, so I guess you get back what you give. Oh, and just let the people walk out with the product - FU! This is the dumbest Anonymous in a while, thank you.

The options nowadays are either have security guards, raise prices even more or close the store. That's it. There are no others.

As someone who never steals or breaks the law, the security guards go almost completely unnoticed.

I think the point of this screed is that there's no legitimate reason for these rent-a-cops to cosplay as Israeli Special Forces (and SPD shouldn't either, for that matter).

@5, @7: When that QFC opened, I lived a few blocks from there. Simply not having to walk a grocery-laden mile in the rain from the upper Broadway QFC sold the place to us in Pike-Pine, and helped the expansion of Broadway nightlife to the Pike-Pine corridor; it was a perfect place for its time.

The steep hillside and roof parking required the elevator and stairs, but I always used the latter and never minded it. (Although one could play a bingo game by the number of times the escalators on B'way worked. Or not.) The corner entrance worked during daylight hours, and would've worked full-time, had B'way and Pike-Pine been mostly residential; once the party people arrived full force in the evenings, there was no reason to keep it open.

The retail along Pike Street should have been one of the strongest aspects of the layout, and actually was, from the opening in 1997, to the teeth of the early-aughts recession, 2002 or so. Being able to make specialty purchases on the way out of the QFC was a nice bonus. I can only imagine how sadly blighted it must appear now.

Seattle liberal "progressives" are the most naive, twee, and dumb liberal "progressives".

tensorna dear, I was living there as well, at the Olive Crest Apartments (RIP) at the corner of Olive St and Belmont, and having a real store was a definite improvement. But even by the time I moved off the hill (1998?), it was starting to get trashy, especially late at night.

Mr. Security Guard, wherever you are, please come to my neighborhood. I'll take one of you in every aisle, thanks!

@10 While bringing guns to what's usually a close quarters confrontation, with poor backstops and bystanders no less, is an exceedingly bad idea, I think it'd take a distinct lack of empathy to complain about security wearing protective gear, even when part of it's utility is to intimidate people into not starting something.

@16 Some people are dimwitted. Some people are avatars of systemic racism and corporate indifference. Some people are assholes. Some people just want to end their shift without a trip to the hospital. Some people are out and out psychopaths. All of them are people (mostly), and deserve understanding (but not necessarily acceptance).

I believe we'd be better off being policed by individuals geared to think "you can't (realistically, it'd be difficult to) hurt me", rather than adherents of killology, or what have you.

I’ve lived in 7 states, but it wasn’t until I moved to Washington that I saw people who are more upset by steps taken to deter theft more than the theft itself.

Interesting that the Costco door receipt checkers are all versions of normal people. Not a flak jacket or taser in sight.
I am still highly offended by the reciept theater at Costco, but I am not afraid of being harmed by an armed-to-the-hilt minimum wage door guard.
Also, for the number of fully dressed military guards in stores, you'd think the restrooms would be open to the public. Nope. The stores in my neighborhood are versions of No Public Restrooms, employee escorts required to pee, or begging for a door security code at the service desk. I have no idea what the GI Joe cosplay actors are doing because none of their threatening costuming is making the shopping experience better.

Good to see Dan Langdon (aka Catalina Vel-DuRay) is still as pleasant and empathetic as ever.

I don't agree with casting aspersions on the security guards themselves. But I will say that as a result of their presence my shopping habits have changed: I no longer duck into a QFC or Safeway on the spur of the moment for one or two items because I know getting out of there will most likely involve some amount of friction, even (and perhaps especially) if I end up not buying anything. I don't think the Costco model of granular receipt-checking is justified or sustainable for a neighborhood grocery store. Instead of pricey uniformed security they'd do better just to hire more stock clerks to spend time in the aisles, keep an eye on people and ask if they need help finding something (which deters theft by signaling to would-be shoplifters that their presence has been noted). I don't think I've ever once been greeted or otherwise acknowledged in a Capitol Hill grocery store, except for an occasional "thank you" after checking out. No wonder they have a problem with theft and other antisocial behavior.