National supermarket chain makes shoppers show their receipts before leaving gate at DC store [Video]

09:04 EDT 29 Apr 2024, updated 10:55 EDT 29 Apr 2024

Shoppers must show their receipts before leaving one branch of a national grocery chain – as staff clamp down on soaring theft rates. 

Harris Teeter, with 258 stores across eight states, has also banned the use of several different bag types including big backpacks, suitcases and large duffels.

The changes, for now, only apply to its D.C. location after the state became a retail crime hotspot in recent years. 

The news was welcomed by local residents who complained crime in the are has been worsening.

Joy Plater, who has worked across the street from Harris Teeter for more than two decades, told local CBS affiliate WUSA-TV: ‘It’s scary. Crime in the area is scary.