Big Take Podcast

Everyone Hates Locked Shelves. Even the Retailers.

On today’s Big Take podcast, why retailers started locking their shelves, and why some of them have started to reconsider that strategy.

Locked cases at a Duane Reade in New York in 2023.
Photographer: Angela Weiss/AFP/Getty Images

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By Julia Press and Sarah Holder

July 18, 2025 at 7:49 PM UTC

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If you’ve been to a store like CVS, Walgreens or Target in the last few years, you may have noticed a trend: more and more essentials are locked up behind plexiglass walls. The strategy started as an anti-theft measure. But there’s little evidence that it’s worked.