Six Giant Food grocery stores are going to start banning children under 18 who are unaccompanied by an adult after 6 p.m. Giant said the new policy will begin Thursday at select D.C.-area stores.
In a statement, Giant said the ban is meant to reduce the “unprecedented levels of product theft that have become unsustainable for our business.”
The new policy drew a mixed reaction from people outside the Giant at 4303 Connecticut Ave. NW in the Van Ness neighborhood, one of the stores instituting the new nighttime ban on unaccompanied minors.
“I think that’s weird. I can see kids under 12, or something like that, but under 18?” said Moira Jones, of D.C. “They’re refusing customers, that seems ridiculous. It doesn’t seem like a good business policy.”
Others offered support for the policy.
“I think it’s a good thing because you can deter theft. People that come in there that are law-abiding, they don’t have a problem with that,” said Michael Jackson of D.C.
Giant said the policies intend to create a more secure shopping environment for everyone and, it said, deter product theft that puts employees and customers in harm’s way.
The ban on unaccompanied minors at night isn’t the only step Giant is taking. In certain stores, customers cannot bring in backpacks or bags larger than 14x14x6 inches. In some stores, the bags are permitted inside, but are subject to search when the customer exits.
“They used to let me leave it at the door, now they don’t even do that,” Jones said about the oversized bag she used to carry into Giant.
The following is the list of stores with the bans, provided to WTOP.
Stores that allow backpacks but ban those under 18 without an adult after 6 p.m.:
Stores that do not allow backpacks and ban those under 18 without an adult after 6 p.m.:
