During an interview with CNBC host Becky Quick on Monday aired on Tuesday’s edition of CNBC’s “Squawk Box,” Home Depot CEO Ted Decker stated that “we are increasingly concerned with some life safety of our associates and customer base” and stated that the issue of retail theft has been highest “in certain tough cities.”
Quick asked, “Will you reach the point where there are stores you have to shut down, because this is a problem in some geographic areas more than others. Where is that?”
Decker responded, “Yes. A number of retailers have had to shut stores in certain tough cities. We’re fortunate that we have not, but we are increasingly concerned with some life safety of our associates and customer base…and we’re having to invest in more security guards and lighting — increased lighting in parking lots and recording towers. And it’s not a place that many of us in retail thought we’d have to be.”
Quick then asked, “How big of a problem is it? Can you quantify it?”
Decker responded, “We know what our number is, obviously. We don’t talk about it, but it has been pressure on our gross margin, as with many other retailers have called out.”
Quick then asked, “To the point where it’s material?”
Decker answered, “It’s something that we’re having to manage.”
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett