CVS in Washington DC replaces stock with PHOTOGRAPHS of items as it battles with out-of-control crime and moves to shut 900 stores

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A CVS pharmacy in Washington DC has been forced to replace almost all its stock with photographs in an attempt to combat rampant shoplifting. 

Framed images of items such as toilet paper and kitchen towels stand in place of the real thing, according to pictures shared to X, while customers have to press a button to request staff fetch the products from storage. 

'This is how we live in America now?' questioned conservative commentator Joey Mannarino, who shared the images. 'This is the third world!' 

The pharmacy's dystopian move comes just weeks after a CVS store in DC was ransacked by up to fifty teenage looters, who routinely attack the store and pillage its shelves.  

Amid the shoplifting crisis, CVS has joined rival drugstore chains Rite Aid and Walgreens in closing over 1,500 stores combined in the coming months. 

Framed images of goods including toilet paper and kitchen towels have replaced actual items on the shelves of a Washington DC pharmacy 

Customers have to press a button to request staff fetch the products from storage in a dystopian attempt to combat rampant shoplifting 

Mannarino said in his post that while American pharmacies may resemble the 'third world', he had a very different experience in a recent trip to Spain. 

Drawing a comparison to the CVS's empty shelves, he said: 'I was in Barcelona, Spain a few months ago and saw Mac laptops sitting out in the middle of the store.' 

The commentator also shared an image of a display filled with MacBooks out in the open, asking: 'Where has America gone wrong?' 

CVS has announced that it is shuttering 900 stores across the US due to the shoplifting crimewave, which the National Retail Federation says is costing the industry $112 billion a year.

Mannarino included an image he took in a trip to Spain, drawing comparisons between MacBook laptops left out in the open to America's stringent shoplifting barriers 

CVS said its decision to close 900 locations by the end of 2024, roughly 10 percent of all its stores, is part of their strategy to move much of the business online and away from potential thieves. 

The strategy has been fueled by a string of disturbing incidents, including the fatal shooting of CVS store manager Michael Jacobs, 49, in September by an accused shoplifter in Arizona. 

And the routine looting carried out on a Washington DC CVS has seen shocking images emerge of entire shelves cleared by gangs of children, who reportedly target the store every day. 

'When you walk into this CVS, you'd think the store is closing because there's barely anything on the shelves,' Fox 5 reporter Sierra Fox told viewers.

She added that only a solitary security guard was stationed at the time, who was no match for the dozens of lawless teens. 

'I did ask an employee what gets stolen the most, and they just laughed and said 'everything,'' Fox continued. 

'A big group of kids, like 45 or more, walk in before school, after school and late at night to steal chips and drinks.

'They even throw the food and beverages on the ground and stomp on them, leaving behind a big mess.'

Desolate shelves greet visitors to the CVS in DC that is routinely stripped by shoplifting children on their way to or from school 

Whole sections of the store have been cleared of products by shoplifters

It took encasement in ice to prevent these sad looking waffles being snaffled by the teens 

Jared Stevey, 38, left is charged with shooting dead CVS store manager Michael Jacobs (pictured right with his wife Stacey and children)  

As a result of the routine shoplifting occurring across the country, data from CapitalOne Research estimated stores had lost $86.6 billion to retail theft in 2022 and projected that by 2025, retail theft may cost stores over $115 billion.

Analysts at UBS have also predicted that at least 50,000 shops will close in the US over the next five years due to the increase in theft coupled with moves to online shopping. 

The shoplifting crisis has hit pharmacies across the country, with rival franchise Rite Aid saying it will also close 150 of its 2,100 stores across the US. 

The pharmacy chain filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy this month due to them losing millions in stolen merchandise and their struggle to settle hundreds of lawsuits accusing them of being complicit in the opioid crisis.

Walgreens is also planning to close 150 stores by summer 2024, citing significantly reduced company revenue. 

Alongside untamed shoplifting, the drugstore lost earnings due to plummeting demand for Covid tests and vaccines. 

Employees at more than 500 of Walgreens' 9,000 stores across the country went on strike from October 9 through October 11, saying they walked out over declining working conditions putting staff and patients at risk. 

The problem is far from contained to pharmacies, however, with Target blaming shoplifters for its decision last month to close nine stores in the crime ravaged cities of Oakland, New York, Seattle, San Francisco and Portland.

'We know that our stores serve an important role in their communities, but we can only be successful if the working and shopping environment is safe for all,' the firm said in a statement.

With a large number of pharmacies closing in the near future, millions of Americans are set to be left in 'pharmacy deserts' without immediate access to medication, according to JAMA Network. 

'According to our estimates, about one in four neighborhoods are pharmacy deserts across the country,' Dima Qato, an associate professor at the University of Southern California, told The Washington Post. 

'These closures are disproportionately affecting communities that need pharmacies most.' 

TelePharm, a healthcare company, said solutions to pharmacy deserts include prescription delivery, mail order, prescription drug lockers, telepharmacy and physician dispensing.