Amy Jacobson, radio host and reporter, said Alderman William Hall threatened Walgreens with “corporate abandonment charges” even though Hall admitted the Chatham store has suffered years of shoplifting that forced its closure.
“Alderman William Hall wants first-degree corporate abandonment charges to levy against Walgreens. First of all, there is no first-degree corporate abandonment. He had a sizable amount of people show up outside the Walgreens at 86th and Cottage Grove with signs that said ‘seniors lives matter,'” said Jacobson in an episode of Chicago Contrarian, The Podcast. “These were people upset that they get their prescriptions from this Walgreens, and there have been five other Walgreens that have closed because of shoplifting.”
“William Hall admitted at this event, while talking to the press, that yes, people have been stealing from this Walgreens for years. A Walgreens spokesperson said they decided to close the store due to significantly higher levels of theft and violent incidents than at their other locations,” Jacobson said. “They’re not making any money—they’re losing money because people are coming in and taking whatever they want and then leaving. The store is going to close on June 4th.”
According to CBS Chicago, Walgreens executives revealed that the Chatham store lost over $1 million last year, with theft at the location running at 16%, four times the company’s average, while prescription volume fell 30% over the past five years.
In this episode of Chicago Contrarian, The Podcast, founder Florian Sohnke discussed former Kim Foxx admitting under oath that she believed two men tied to a brutal 1998 double murder were guilty despite granting them certificates of innocence. Host Jim Bosco and guests Amy Jacobson, Jeff Fiedler, and Swincca also examined Walgreens store closures, a controversial DUI acquittal involving Samantha Steele, and Chicago’s so-called “criminal industrial complex” with former mayoral candidate Paul Vallas. Chicago Contrarian, The Podcast is a Chicago-based public affairs show focused on politics, culture, and civic issues shaping Chicago.
Chicago Contrarian, The Podcast is a Chicago-based public affairs podcast focused on news, politics, culture, and civic issues shaping Chicago. Founded in 2019 as part of the Chicago Contrarian platform, the podcast offers independent perspectives and thoughtful commentary on major events, local controversies, and the institutions influencing the city’s political and social landscape.
