The once-posh city of Beverly Hills, made popular by the “Beverly Hills 90210” TV series and, of course, the Beverly Hill Billies decades ago, is now dying—with barren retail spaces replacing luxury retailers.
Stores that survived the COVID-19 pandemic and the economic downturn that followed are now facing a new threat: Retail theft.
Smash-and-grab gangs threaten businesses in Beverly Hills and Los Angeles County at large.
This from naturalnews.com.
The New York Post reported about the city’s decline, citing footage posted by the user Nostalgic Angelino on TikTok. The user’s videos showcased more than a dozen Beverly Hills establishments that permanently shuttered their doors. Only empty storefronts with signs announcing their vacancy remained, shells of once-thriving businesses.
Some of the businesses Nostalgic Angelino posted include luxury staples Barneys New York and Escada, with the two having filed for bankruptcy in recent years. The former Escada store on Wilshire Boulevard remains vacant after the company filed for bankruptcy in 2022.
Other big-name stores such as Chanel, Rite Aid, and Niketown have also left the Garden Spot of the World.
The Chanel store on North Robertson Boulevard shuttered for good after it fell victim to two burglaries in 2022. A building on North Bedford Drive remains closed after its main tenant Rite Aid moved out in early 2023. The former location of Niketown in the city, a once-popular stop for shoppers, is now empty.
Retail stores were not the only ones that closed down, as restaurants like Chipotle and Starbucks also left Beverly Hills.
The Post remarked:
The barren stores stand in stark contrast with the city’s reputation for glamor and opulence, and as a place where celebrities, fashionistas, and business moguls are regularly photographed by paparazzi.
Meanwhile, the businesses that survived the slow demise of the once-posh city—Saks Fifth Avenue, Hermes, Gucci, and more—made it to Nostalgic Angelino‘s “Best of Beverly Hills” compilation.
Law enforcement agencies in Southern California have established a task force solely focused on combating retail crime. The new task force is composed of the LA Police Department (LAPD) and the LA County Sheriff’s Department at the local level. Federal law enforcement—in the form of the Federal Bureau of Investigation‘s Apprehension Task Force and its counterpart in the U.S. Marshals Service—also joins the task force.
The group, which features 22 full-time investigators, was formed the same day as a Macy’s department store in LA was raided by a group of masked thieves in hooded sweatshirts. Meanwhile, officers arrested at least nine individuals—including six thieves who robbed a Nike store in East LA.
At the state level, California Gov. Gavin Newsom has pledged to help the task force. He announced that the Golden State would be tapping California Highway Patrol (CHP) resources to stamp out theft in LA.
Newsom said in a press release:
The state is investing hundreds of millions of dollars to crack down on organized crime—and when our local partners need further assistance, we’re ready with a helping hand.
According to the governor’s office:
CHP’s Organized Retail Crime Task Force has arrested more than 1,250 people since its establishment in 2019. It has also recovered more than $30 million in stolen merchandise since its creation.
Data from the LAPD shows that as of August 26:
[T]here have been 9,455 burglaries in the City of Angels this year.
This number was less than three percent lower from 2022 numbers, but still higher by more than 14 percent compared to 2021.
Final thoughts: What’s needed is Conservatism to assume control of California at the state level and every municipality as well. What are the odds this will happen any time soon? Honest elections would be a great start.
Coming from Gruesome Newsom, talk is cheap—he’s not doing his job. That is unless you realize he’s working for George Soros—rather than the people of California—and he has accepted as his mission the destruction of a once beautiful state.
