Is it “don’t use them and just keep track of your stuff”? Because that seems like the most right answer here.

They need to make some money - infrastructure isn’t free, employees need paid, etc. they should be self sustaining.

They don’t need to be 2009-Google profitable though. That pipe dream needs to end. 3-5% YoY growth is plenty.

At least this article calls out that the stores kept open also are busier, so the higher potential for theft has less impact on profitability.

Nobody closes a profitable location solely over theft. The only closures that shoplifting is driving are ones at stores that were already underperforming. If increasing theft drives a store into the red, that’s a sensible closure, but profitability is the real driver, not theft.

Didn’t he do this once before, and it affected a whopping 0 people?

Very much this. Four times I’ve accidentally flown with live ammo in my carry on and gotten through the TSA checkpoint unflagged. I can also verify that the hand swab thing they do doesn’t pick up gunpowder.