California’s convenience store owners and operators are finding it increasingly difficult to manage or even operate their stores. Criminals seem to have more rights than law-abiding store owners. You could be charged with crimes if you fight against the criminals who steal from the cash registers and off the shelves of your store.
This is only what goes on inside the store. In places like Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, and Sacramento potential customers first have to navigate past the “unhoused” and even some unhoused communal living centers to enter places like 7-11, CVS, and Walgreens.
Many of the homeless are violent or mentally ill, living in unsanitary conditions, which prevents most business owners from physically confronting these people. When the cops make them leave, they come right back the next day. Code enforcement officials have slapped the hands of those who have built barriers to prevent people from sleeping in the street. The best solution is for them to leave voluntarily, or to make your establishment an unattractive location.
A 7-11 in West Los Angeles got creative and started playing the same song on the outdoor speakers 24/7. Damon Packard, who lives near the store, posted on his Facebook account about it Saturday.
The 7-11 right next to my building has nothing but Toto’s AFRICA playing 24hrs a day over their loudspeakers. I don’t know if the owner had the idea that a song on endless repeat would scare off the homeless, but it worked.
Hurry, boy! She is waiting for you.
The artwork in this piece is amazing. He should sell the original work if it is his.
For people who know Los Angeles, this store is located at the intersection of Santa Monica Blvd and Sawtelle, which is a block west of 405. If you’ve been around that area recently, you know that homeless people have set up their tents and cardboard boxes everywhere.
Packard said, “Toto Africa 7-11 was still playing when he returned around 5 am on Tuesday.”
Africa is the most irritating song I’ve ever heard. My family loves the song. Yes, we were those strange people who sang along with my family at the rehearsal dinner for my son’s marriage. If this is the way 7-11 operates, keep it up.
