Instant Experts
By Mitch Berg
As we noted the other day, Target is closing nine stores in four, blue, cities.
The news brought out a flood of expert social media opinion from people who have never worked in the productive private sector. “Target is just using teh crime to cover up teh realz reazons they’re closing” was the big line around mid-week.
Including this, from our long time acquaintance, Molly Priesmeyer.
You may remember Molly – and “award winning journalist“ who is never let the fact she doesn’t know anything about a subject stop her from writing about it.
She turns her keen-eyed expertise to the world of business:
Let’s be frank – many things can be true simultaneously.
Business ain’t easy. Balancing supply, demand and asking price isn’t for the faint of heart, and that’s before you get into taxes, regulations, and externalities like regular “shrinkage”.
WIth all that, though, Target’s been in Seattle, Portland, San Francisco and even NYC for literally decades, through good times and bad, ups and downs in markets, the works.
And the closures aren’t spread across the entire market.
As far as Target’s security? Not sure if they’re better than the FBI – but let’s say they perfected teh art of store security. That means they catch thieves, grifters, swindlers and other ne’er do wells.
And then…
Well, Target may do a lot of things, but rthey don’t run any county attorney’s offfices. Or any city councils, especially the ones making laws like shoplifting less than $900 doesn’t even warrant a charge, much less a sentence.
Target’s big, but not that big.
Perhaps “award winning journalist” Priesjeyer has some insight on the facts that aren’t apparent from, well, the facts. I’m all ears.
September 29th, 2023 at 12:25 pm
Good lord, what a dumb comment about Target’s security and its FORENSIC LABS. I mean, free speech and free press and all that, but do people even listen to her?
September 29th, 2023 at 1:24 pm
I think that everyone that read that, is now dumber for having done so. Molly is even dumber for even posting such horse crap.
September 29th, 2023 at 2:04 pm
OK, my son in law is trained in forensic science, and while department stores do hire guys like him (along with security at Mayo and the like), I’m guessing that Target does not have the same kind of labs for analyzing projectiles, DNA, hair, fingerprints, and the like that any big city police department or the FBI would have.
BTW, side note; anyone going into forensic science needs to know that in this state, most police departments insist that you pay your own way to police academy, and then spend a few years issuing speeding tickets and the like before actually getting to investigate serious crimes. Not recommended, and if you’re a police chief looking for people…..look at how you’re handling things.
Back in 2018, the Star-Tribune reported that of ~1000 sexual assault cases they investigated, only 20% got a good basic investigation, including the assignment of an investigator, interviewing the victim, and interviewing potential witnesses. Linked from my blog in a post from 2018.
If you don’t deal with crime, you get more of it. Target and “blue” cities are learning that the hard way.
Side note; was surprised to see the Harlem store closing, as the region has gentrified a lot (mean income $52k), and the store is in the shadow of Yankee Stadium.
September 29th, 2023 at 3:00 pm
I’d love to hear what the lovely, ebullient MollyPrimrose things is the REAL reason.
I’ll bet a chai latte with almond milk and 2 pumps of espresso on “RACISSSSSSSSSSM”
September 29th, 2023 at 3:01 pm
*thinks
September 29th, 2023 at 3:28 pm
I thought her comment was ridiculous so I Googled ” target forensic lab.” I was astonished to learn they not only have two labs – one in Minneapolis and one in Vegas- but that they’re both accredited as well.
I don’t know if target’s labs are better than the FBI but I would question the credibility of any FBI lab work given their track record of lying in so many court cases. I’m not aware of any target lab people lying in court cases so they got that going for them
The quality of the lab and the credibility of the witnesses doesn’t really matter if the prosecuting attorney refuses to do anything about it or the judge goes soft on crime to look good in the media.
And that is the real reason for closing stores. When the legal system allows people to rob you blind, you can’t make enough money to keep the doors open so you shut the doors. that’s the only responsible decision management can make consistent with their fiduciary duty to the shareholders.
I wonder if she’s ever heard of that duty?
September 29th, 2023 at 4:54 pm
I’d love to hear what the lovely, ebullient MollyPrimrose things is the REAL reason
She’s the one who started her City Pages piece on the gala the Center of the American Experiment threw to honor Powerlline for starting the row of dominos that ended with Dan Rather’s firing with “is it just me or is it white in her”.
That’s Molly – literally the most Caucasian person I’ve ever met in my life.
September 29th, 2023 at 7:03 pm
Maybe we should put Target in charge of interstate crime.
They can’t do any worse a job than the FBI
Of, maybe, because state cops can persue joggers when they cross state lines, we do t need an FBI at all.
September 29th, 2023 at 8:18 pm
Everyone, even the crazees that run Minneapolis and Saint Paul, know that the crime problemin the Twin Cities is a black problem, and especially a Somali problem. But they want to address this problem by taking away guns from middle aged white guys.
And the media, our supposed “truth tellers,” know it, too. And they won’t say a word.
September 30th, 2023 at 10:43 am
I hang my head in shame for asking this off topic question.
When did Emory leave?
October 1st, 2023 at 6:49 pm
I finally found a good reference to the power law in regards to the violent crime, but for obvious reasons I am having a problem finding a link to scholarly publications that report the data. 10% of criminals responsible for 50% of violent crime. So you can see the problem with the media if that 10% is majority black.
October 2nd, 2023 at 6:33 am
Gonna share that reference, MMP?
ps: Why are you no longer Ultra MAGA? Dont forget; Drumpf is being persecuted for you.
October 2nd, 2023 at 6:47 am
“Target’s closures because of crime protect its profit, but at expense of communities and customers”
See that? The Star Trib sees what you White Supremacists are up to. They are rushing to support “communities” and “customers” over filthy profits.
In the Leftist Utopia, which is just over the horizon there, a little to the left of the ruins of Minnehaha Liquors, profits will be punishable with long prison terms.
October 2nd, 2023 at 8:10 am
No reference, Blade, it was spoken on a podcast by a sociologist I trust referring to research done by someone else. But instinctively it would be a power law function, like any other human activity, though you could quibble with the numbers.
I still think that the woke do not understand what they are doing. When they say blacks are more prone to committing crime, they sound like you 🙂
October 2nd, 2023 at 6:31 pm
“When they say blacks are more prone to committing crime, they sound like you”
Because they don’t understand what they’re saying?
October 3rd, 2023 at 7:40 am
Because they think that the non-woke will assume, as they do, that the reason so many blacks commit crimes is the fault of white people. When they see a group f young black men car jack an old white woman, the woke see that as more proof of white supremacy.