DC street vendor blatantly pedals random assortment of toiletries across the road from CVS where shoplifting gangs routinely strip shelves

A street vendor in Washington DC sold a random assortment of toiletries in close proximity to a CVS Pharmacy across the road where shelves were cleared by shoplifting gangs.

Shocking photos shared on X depict personal care products, including toothpaste, lotions, and shampoos, arranged on the table of a street vendor in Columbia Heights.

Meanwhile, the CVS across the road was repeatedly ransacked by looters, leaving most shelves empty with only a few items remaining behind glass.

'People keep stealing stuff, and the police aren't doing anything about it.' a CVS staff member told AI reporter Timothy B. Lee, who shared the images.

This 'coincidence' occurred weeks after the same store was robbed by up to 50 teenage looters amid America's shoplifting crisis.

Shoplifting gangs repeatedly strip shelves at the CVS pharmacy in Columbia Heights, as FOX 5 reported last month. 

In photos shared by Lee, most shelves of the CVS can be seen empty with only a few bags of laundry detergent left behind glass.

'The CVS staffer said the store isn’t closing, they are just planning a renovation,' Lee wrote along with the shocking pictures he posted. 

'I’m not sure how a renovation is going to save them from getting robbed over and over again but it bet it won’t be a nicer experience for paying customers,' the post reads. 

Weeks ago, Fox 5 reporter Sierra Fox visited the same store and said: 'When you walk into this CVS, you'd think the store is closing because there's barely anything on the shelves.' 

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

'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.'

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. 

The drug store chain 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. 

The decision to close 900 locations by the end of 2024, roughly 10 percent of all its stores, is part of the company's 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. 

Last month, another CVS pharmacy in Washington DC was 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!' 

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?' 

Analysts at UBS predict that at least 50,000 shops will close in the US over the next five years driven by the move to online shopping and the impact of theft on their bottom line.