CHICAGO, Ill. (WTVO) — Walgreens has remodeled one of its downtown Chicago stores in an effort to stop rampant shoplifting.

According to CWBChicago, the store, located at 2 East Roosevelt, now contains only two short aisles of “essentials” where “customers can shop for themselves.”

Other items are locked behind a counter and must be ordered from a kiosk.

“This redesigned store will have the latest in e-commerce offerings to increase customer service, mitigate theft, and increase safety for our customers and employees,” the company said.

The pharmacy also operates with a kiosk of its own.

Walgreens said it is “testing a new experience at this store with new concepts, technologies, and practices to enhance the experiences of our customers and team members.”

Is this the future of retail shopping in the U.S.?

Retailers across the country have been grappling with rampant shoplifting and lax enforcement and prosecution following the nation’s reckoning with the role of law enforcement in society after a wave of civil unrest following the murder of George Floyd in 2020.

Walmart has threatened to raise prices or close stores to offset revenue loss; Target said it had lost $400 million due to theft in 2022.

Last month, Chicago police urged stores to install unbreakable glass shields over their existing windows, signaling to business owners that there simply weren’t enough police officers to deal with escalating crime.

Since 2019, a CBS News report found that about 3,300 Chicago Police officers retired, resigned, or were fired, and only 1,600 were hired.

Officers cited exhaustion and lack of support from public officials as their reasons for quitting.

In the wake of the death of George Floyd, civil unrest erupted all across the city, requiring police officers to work 12-hour shifts with no days off.

Last year, Gov. JB Pritzker signed the INFORM Act, a retail theft crime bill at Chicago’s Water Tower Place, which has been hit by mobs of teen robbers in recent years.

The law created create stiffer penalties for ringleaders of “smash and grab” thefts and makes it easier to prosecute them.

“Smash and grab” robberies have been an issue at malls and jewelry stores across the country, including Rockford.

In December 2021, Attorney General Kwame Raoul’s Organized Retail Crime Task Force retrieved $1 million worth of stolen goods from storage units.

The law also requires online sellers to collect identification and contact information for people trying to sell many items at once.