How The Rich Get Their Kicks: Micro-Crimes Against Big Corporations
New York City’s upwardly mobile professionals can’t be bothered to pay for their own groceries.
“Sometimes I feel like everyone I know is stealing from Whole Foods. For a certain subset of the city’s wealthy-Yeah, a little shoplifting at your grocery store has become as commonplace as jaywalking,” writing Nora DeLigter for New York magazine’s Curbed.
DeLigter offers a great investigation into these shoplifters.
A graphic designer who stole a $30 jar of eye cream while shopping and was quickly apprehended: “She was about to spend a small fortune on organic potatoes and traditional turkey – pocketing the eye cream somehow seemed… fair.” (RELATED: ‘Shoplifters Unite’: Flyer Calls for Mass Looting of DC Supermarket)
A “graphic designer at a high-end fitness brand” who refers to every item in the Whole Foods hotbar as “soup.”
“Tim,” a musician who managed to get out of a traffic ticket and a lifetime ban by shouting, “Am I detained?” “Tim has since continued to steal from Whole Foods.”
A sculptor who had a “system” for shoplifting: “Approach the object with confidence, grab it, then go upstairs to the dining room and place it surreptitiously in his bag.” »
“Astrid”, a woman who was late for therapy when she decided to steal some sushi. She was apprehended and banned from all Whole Foods in the tri-state area. Astrid told DeLigter, “I remember thinking it was funny that I could apparently continue my drinking in Massachusetts, where I’m from. »
NYMag works very hard to avoid the words “theft” or “shoplifting” here. “When the security guards catch you,” what, exactly? pic.twitter.com/DoY7PryFkK
– Karol Markowicz (@karol) March 11, 2026
DeLigter is clear. These people aren’t stealing from Whole Foods out of hunger. In fact, they don’t really know why they steal.
“Some called it something like a corporate protest; others blamed an unaffordable city. It’s a right,” one thief admitted. “I would call it a form of collective nihilism.”
“Collective nihilism” is perhaps the best diagnosis for this motley band of graphic designers, casting directors, women who can afford regular therapy, sculptors – yuppies, in short.
“Retail crime leads to higher prices for consumers, forces stores to close their doors, and leaves communities without vital goods and services,” according to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. U.S. stores lost an estimated $47.8 billion to retail theft in 2025, according to Capital One Shopping Research. I guess yuppies are a minority of thieves. However, their psychology deserves attention.
Robert Putnam, author of “Bowling Alone,” warned in 2000 that our stock of social capital had plunged. Our stock has continued to decline, perhaps at an accelerating rate. Massive fare evasion is endemic in urban areas. Since the installation of higher fare barriers, the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) is collection $10 million in new annual revenue from former fraudsters. (RELATED: Soros-backed prosecutor decided to let shoplifters get off easy. It didn’t end well for a wealthy suburb)
Yuppies’ shoplifting could be attributed to rebellion against a world perceived as devoid of meaning and justice. Corporations serve as a natural proxy for powers beyond our understanding.
Follow Natalie Sandoval on X: @NatSandovalDC
