Walgreens CEO discusses the ongoing struggle with theft prevention in stores, citing locking items as ineffective.

Walgreens’ plan to combat increasing theft by locking products up at their stores has hurt sales, the company’s CEO said in a recent earnings call.

Walgreens’ strategy of locking up merchandise — from deodorants to bags of M&M’s — to deter theft has backfired, according to CEO Tim Wentworth. “It is a hand-to-hand combat battle still, unfortunately,